Page 47 - Sicredi Ingles Flipbook

In 2018, Sicredi initiated operations in the state of Minas Gerais, through an affiliation between a local credit union (currently Sicredi Credigrande MG) and Sicredi Cooperative Central South, the name of which was then changed to Sicredi Cooperative Central South/South- east. Next, credit unions in the South expanded their operations within the state, inaugurating 20 new branches in Minas Gerais, including in Belo Horizonte, where we opened our first branch in 2019. This was another milestone in the expansion project for major urban centers, consider- ing that the capital of Minas Gerais is home to the nation’s fourth largest GDP.
Promoting financial inclusion
We leveraged our capacity to be present in communities that, until then, were considered financially unfeasible for banking access, thanks to the application of an innovative branch concept, called Sicredi Smart. In 2018, the first Smart branch was installed as a pilot project in the municipality of Cafeara/PR, home to just 1,200 economically active people. Members were able to open check accounts, contract credit, consortia, insurance, credit cards and even deposit checks. Bills and transfers are performed online, using the Sicredi banking application. We also provided Wi-Fi inside the branch and its surroundings.
The difference of the Smart branch lies in the absence of cash holdings, in other words, it is a cashless branch. This reduces the cost of transporting and holding cash values to zero, usually considered the second highest operating expense for branches.
The Smart branch in Cafeara became an internationally recognized case and gained even more attention in mid-2019, when we were invited by the United Nations (UN) to present the project at its headquarters, in New York, thanks to its alignment with a series of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) defined by the global entity.
Sicredi’s Trajectory and the Strength of Cooperation |
Sicredi Smart branch in Cafeara/PR.
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