CGD will not increase bank charges

The CEO of public bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos has promised there will be no further hikes in bank charges for the foreseeable future.

Paulo Macedo said that the answer to low banking sector revenues and margins lay not in pushing up bank charges, but rather in slashing operational costs.
In an interview with Jornal de Negócios and Antena 1 radio he said, “When people moan about bank charges, what are they actually saying? They are saying that they are not prepared to pay the banks’ structural costs.”
While recognising that banks are having problems remaining profitable because of Covid-19, historically low interest rates and the increase in purely online digital banks in the market, customers should not be penalised because of it.
“There will be no increases in bank charges and CGD will continue to be, as it is now, the bank with the lowest charges”, he said.
Referring to the moratoria on repaying the principle and/or the interest on loans to companies struggling with cashflow because of the pandemic, he stressed that care had to be taken regarding some sectors of the economy when grace periods on loan repayments and credit interest come to an end in from September.
“If we get to the end of the moratoria and there are companies in certain sectors which don’t have revenues, then they don’t have revenues and these companies in these sectors should be supported when they end.
“Otherwise unemployment will go up, bankruptcies will increase and we will see the destruction of companies on a grand scale,” said Paulo Macedo.
He said the bank did have a plan, which while it was not focused on all of its clients in all sectors across the board, concentrated on supporting certain sectors. He did not state which, but hospitality must clearly be one.
The CEO of Caixa Geral de Depósitos also said he did not rule out the possibility of acquiring all or part of Novo Banco if and when it came into the market.