As a result, Banco do Brasil is betting on the strategy of increasing its own service network (Rede Mais BB) in municipalities that are unassisted by bank branches, and it also counts on the arrival at the new PIX system so that its public continues to make their bill payments.
Today more than 40% of the municipalities do not have a bank branch. There are about 2,340 cities in Brazil with no service, according to information from CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores). The lines at Caixa Econômica Federal and lottery stores to receive the emergency income of R$600 showed that there is a bank exclusion, which forces people to have an internet package, in a country where access is precarious. In addition, there is a significant section of the population that is not active in the digital environment and encounters many inclusion difficulties in this sector.
It is worth mentioning that at the extremes of the south and east of the capital of São Paulo, the largest economic center in the country, there are no internet towers, neither 3G nor 4G. In Carapicuíba (metropolitan region of SP) there is no optical fiber. This already suggests the difficulty in the rest of the country.
According to a survey by the newspaper O Globo, two out of five cities in the country do not even have a bank branch. In a six-year period, 2,414 branches were closed due to cuts and costs and competition with digital banks and the trend is getting worse.
The Brazilian Federation of Lottery Companies (Febralot) sees this situation with great concern. Accompanying lottery entrepreneurs in their activities from north to south of the country, Febralot has received a progressive number of complaints in lottery stores, both by businessmen, who see a significant decrease in their income, as well as by the population. Four out of ten customers leave the windows complaining about the difficulty caused by the end of this service.
Febralot's president, Jodismar Amaro, has already put the matter on the agenda of the entity's meetings with Caixa and, on the part of the manager and BB, there seems to be no interest in giving up even a percentage to maintain the agreement.
“We see that, at the present time, where many traders are flexing their interests to maintain yields, it is essential that this agreement be maintained. Lottery entrepreneurs have been suffering from the digitalization of banking services and betting for years and with COVID-19 the loss is reaching irreparable financial damage to these professionals. Not to mention that today, we are the largest service network in the country, with incomparable capillarity. There are more than 13,000 service points that are in almost 100% of the municipalities across the country”, highlights Jodismar.
“In addition, lottery stores have always been a point of support to cover the entire population in all social issues and their benefits, so it cannot, now, be a helplessness for BB account holders across the country who count on our services,” added the president of Febralot.
Former federal deputy Luiz Carlos Hauly is an account holder of BB and was outraged by the untimely action of the entities involved in the breach of this agreement (Caixa and BB), he saw up close the enraged customers in the lottery store complaining about the impossibility of paying their bills, make withdrawals or purchase lottery games.
According to Hauly, the loss extends not only to account holders of BB but to lottery players, to Caixa and even to the Federal Government, which loses in revenues from the sale of games to this public. Hauly considers the attitude of the two public banks in the federal government to be a crime against the popular economy. The moment is delicate and calls for the intervention of President Jair Bolsonaro so that there is no further damage to everyone involved.
“Febralot, on behalf of lottery companies all over the country, together with the presidents of all state unions, is directly committed to seeking a solution to favor mainly the population,” the entity sates.
Source: GMB
