Mercantil Banco is a financial institution with more than 100 years of banking activity in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and is a subsidiary of

Mercantil Servicios Financieros Mercantil Servicios Financieros (Mercantil) is a Venezuelan holding company of financial services present in 9 countries in America and Europe . Its shares are listed on the Caracas Stock Exchange (MVZ.A and MVZ.B) and it maintains a Level 1 A ...

History

On 23 March 1925 a group of 98 Venezuelan businessmen founded the bank with the name of "Banco Neerlando Venezolano" in an economy determined by the agricultural activity being the major component of national income (coffee, cacao and cotton). The Bank began its operations on 3 April 1925. In 1968, it became the official representative of

Diners Club A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

in Venezuela. Since the 1970s the bank achieved the opening of subsidiaries in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1982, the ''

Mercantil Tower The Mercantil Tower (also known as the ''Mercantil Building'') is a skyscraper located in the Venezuelan city of Caracas, is known for being the fourth tallest tower in the city and the country with 179 m in height and 40 floors, is located at A ...

'' skyscraper was built as the new bank headquarter's. In 1994, it was not really affected by the economic crisis in Venezuela. In 2000, Mercantil bought a lot of financial and insurance institutions as ''Interbank'', ''Venezolana Entidad de Ahorro y Préstamo'', ''Banco Monagas'', ''Seguros Orinoco'', among others. At the end of 2007, Mercantil controlled 12.29% of the banking

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

in Venezuela, just behind

Banesco Banesco Banco Universal C.A. is a Venezuelan financial institution whose principal branch is located in Caracas. The bank is part of the Asociación Bancaria de Venezuela (Venezuela's Banking Association). Banesco has 340 branches all over Vene ...

References

{{Authority control Mercantil Mercantil Venezuelan brands 1925 establishments in Venezuela companies based in Caracas