Banco do Brasil S.A. (, ) is a
Brazilian financial services
Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...
company headquartered in
Brasília
Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the
oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by
John VI, King of Portugal, on Wednesday, 12 October 1808. It is the second largest banking institution in Brazil, as well as the
second largest in Latin America.
Banco do Brasil is controlled by the Brazilian government and is listed at the
B3 stock exchange in
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
.
It has been one of the four most profitable Brazilian banks since 2000 (along with
Itaú Unibanco,
Banco Bradesco and
Banco Santander
Banco Santander S.A. trading as Santander Group ( , , ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Santander, with operative offices in Madrid. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in most global financial centres ...
) and holds a strong leadership position in
retail banking
Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking (corporate ...
.
History
Banco do Brasil was founded in 1808 by then prince regent John (later King
John VI of Portugal
'' Dom'' John VI (; 13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826), known as "the Clement" (), was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves from 1816 to 1825, and after the recognition of Brazil's independence, titular Emperor of Brazil ...
) to finance the kingdom's public debt when
he moved from Europe to Brazil. "As a mixed institution under state control, the Banco do Brasil served as a commercial bank, the government's fiscal agent, and Brazil's first
bank of issue." It went bankrupt two times in history: once during
independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
in 1821, when John VI returned to Portugal taking with him some of the bank's assets, and a second time in 1898.
From 1821 to 1964 Banco do Brasil occasionally performed tasks that exceeded its role as a traditional commercial bank: issuing currency, having the monopoly of currency exchange transactions and serving as National Treasury holder for the government. Such tasks were gradually given to other governmental institutions, mainly with the creation of the
Central Bank of Brazil
The Central Bank of Brazil (, ) is Brazil's central bank, the bank is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency. It was established on Thursday, 31 Dece ...
in 1964 and the separation from the National Treasury in 1987.
From 1992 onwards it was restructured as a commercial bank, using its huge geographic distribution and credit assets to leverage its redesign as a "normal" bank. In the process, tens of thousands of workers were laid off.
After decades of losses due to being used to finance some of the Brazilian Federal Government public policies, the bank became very profitable across the years. The bank is one of the key structures used by Brazilian government to restabilize the market (like preventing
cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...
izations in the bank interest market or stabilizing the bank credit during financial distress times like the 2008–2009 global crisis). The institution also is used to finance public programs such as the DRS – Sustainable Regional Development initiatives.
In November 2013, ''
The Banker
''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...
'' ranked Banco de Brasil as the top bank in Brazil based on Tier 1 capital.
Branding
The current logo has been in use since the 1960s, when the standard colors changed from brown and yellow to blue-grey-and yellow. The blue and yellow mimic the colors of the Brazilian flag.
Since the early 1980s, the bank has sponsored several sports competitions (in sports such as
beach soccer
Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each.
Association football has long been played informally on ...
,
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
,
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
,
table tennis
Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
,
futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
,
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...
,
motorsport
Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...
and
beach volleyball
Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...
). It is the official sponsor for
Robert Scheidt,
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the list of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals f ...
,
Enzo Fittipaldi,
Pietro Fittipaldi, and the Brazilian national beach soccer, volleyball, and futsal teams.
The bank also sponsors other cultural events such as plays through its organization CCBB (
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil) and amateur sports through the AABB (Associação Atlética Banco do Brasil).
Supermodel
Gisele Bündchen was chosen to be the face of their first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2023, Banco do Brasil raised US$750 million through its first issuance of sustainability bonds. Whose resources should be used exclusively in projects with sustainable purposes, aligned with ESG policie
Services
In addition to commercial and government services, the bank offers a large variety of services to the consumer including bill payment services (
Boleto
''Boleto bancário'', simply referred to as ''boleto'' (English language, English: bank ticket) is a payment method in Brazil regulated by (FEBRABAN).
A boleto, which can be considered a proforma invoice, can be paid at Cash machine, ATMs, bran ...
), ATM loans, and a single package that contains the account numbers for checking, multiple savings accounts, and investment account. The account holder may apply for international MasterCard and Visa
debit card
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...
s which act as both a
credit card on a loan account, and as a
debit card
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...
on the checking account (a little different from the arrangement in many other countries, where both the debit and credit functions of a debit card act on the checking account). The list of services offered encompass many complex automatic functions from ATMs and online such as a wide variety of loans, automatic payments, Brazilian bill payments, and deposits to other Brazilian accounts. Many merchants routinely accept account-to-account transfers as payment for goods.
International users
Banco do Brasil has a few branches in the United States (
Washington,
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
) and other countries.
Branches outside Brazil
in Portuguese. These branches are intended for use by large companies and for permanent residents of Brasil who visit the other countries, but they also offer regular services for residents of the countries where they are located.
Banco do Brasil has been expanding its international presence and currently has more than 44 points of service abroad, divided into branches, sub-branches, business units / offices and subsidiaries.
;Offices and subsidiaries
* Asuncion
* Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
* Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
* Ciudad del Este
Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...
* Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
* George Town
* Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
* La Paz
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
* Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
* Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
* London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
* Luanda
Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...
* Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
* Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
* Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
* Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
* Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
* Panama City
Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
* Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
* Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
* Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
* Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
* Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
* Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
* Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
* Washington
Interest rates
Interest rates on loans vary to a great extent but, being a public-owned bank that operates as a commercial venture, Banco do Brasil is not noted for having the highest, or the lowest rates either.
Relationship with the government
Traditionally the CEO is appointed by the Brazilian president but usually picked from a list of career directors. A few CEOs were taken from outside the financial industry.
Banco do Brasil has the monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
of a number of government funding programs, like Pronaf (National Subsistence Farming Support), DRS, Fome Zero (zero hunger), PASEP, and others, and is the bank of choice for most municipal
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...
and state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
governments.
Hiring process
Being publicly-owned, Banco do Brasil must recruit employees through a public selection process, called the ''concurso público'', who must work strictly according to business norms. Due to the high standards and job security that the ''concurso público'' compels, a position with the Banco do Brasil is highly desirable in Brazil. The hiring process is conducted separately for each region of Brazil, with approved candidates recruited to any branch in the region. Candidates must be Brazilian nationals (or legal, naturalized residents) and must have completed military and electoral registration obligations (military service is mandatory for men, and voter registration is mandatory for all Brazilians aged 18 to 70).
Banco do Brasil maintains 49 offices/places of business in 23 different countries and, depending on local law, may employ local hires. For instance, the Miami Branch and the North America Regional Office (BBUSA) hire locally.
Local hires must pass a competitive test, speak multiple languages, and demonstrate a knowledge of finance, economics, computer sciences, business administration and asset management, trade, structured and project finance, etc. Prior work experience is fundamental.
Other publicly-owned Brazilian banks, like the Caixa Econômica Federal
The Caixa Econômica Federal (, ''Federal Savings Bank''), also referred to as Caixa or CEF, is a state-owned Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. It is the fourth largest banking institution in Brazil, as ...
, Banco da Amazônia, and Banco do Nordeste, maintain similar processes, but the Banco do Brasil's ''concurso público'' sets the gold standard for Brazilian public service employment.
Sponsorships
Banco do Brasil is an official sponsor of the Brazil national volleyball team and had a long-running association with Brazilian racing driver Felipe Nasr and were the title sponsor of his team, Sauber
Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...
. The bank were also previously sponsored by Brawn GP
Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor which competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team was formed in 2009 by a management buyout led by Ross Brawn of the Honda Racing F1 T ...
.
Currently, Banco do Brasil sponsors the brothers Enzo Fittipaldi, Formula 2
Formula Two (F2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 to 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned aga ...
driver for Charouz, and Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas F1 Team
Haas Formula LLC, competing as MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, is an List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, American-licensed Formula One racing team established by NASCAR Cup Series team owner Gene Haas in April 2014. The team made its ...
reserve driver
References
External links
*
*
Banco do Brasil RI
Banco do Brasil information
(archived)
BB Americas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banco Do Brasil
Brazilian brands
Companies based in Brasília
Companies listed on B3 (stock exchange)
Companies in the Índice Bovespa
Companies in the S&P Latin America 40
Banks established in 1808
Government-owned banks of Brazil