In Bolivia, you’ll find that 12 major banks offer a wide range of services and are the largest in the financial market of the country. Also, 11 of these 12 banks are among the 250 largest banks in South America. Each one of these big Bolivian banks has total assets between $1 and $5 billion, which is around 500 times smaller than the largest banks in the US.
The largest bank in Bolivia is the Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank, which is also the 96th largest bank in South America. This bank has assets of $5.22 billion, an annual income of $27,9 million, 180 agencies, and 440 ATMs. The 2nd and 3rd largest banks are Union Bank and BNB Bank respectively.
In this article about the largest banks of Bolivia, you’ll find all the details about such entities, including their history, principal financial and size numbers, and how we feel about the services they offer. You’ll also know which the 5 largest banks are in our country, and the largest banks by type of Bank.
The largest bank in Bolivia
According to the specialized South American financial magazine “America Economia” (see here the full report: in Spanish, or translated) the largest bank available in Bolivia, as of 2020, is the Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank (Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz), which is in the 96th position of this ranking that lists the 250 largest banks of South America.
This bank has also been rated as the 2nd best bank in Bolivia in 2021, according to the CAMELS rating system (see the full report here: in Spanish, or translated), an international banking rating system that measures the financial strength of a bank.
This is a relatively new bank that has been merged from 2 prior banks that existed in Bolivia a long time ago. In 2007, the first fusion happened, and it was between the Santa Cruz Bank and the Mercantile Bank. Later in 2015, this bank absorbed another one called Los Andes Bank.
The Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank has been going up in size among other South American Banks, from the 165th position in 2013 to the 96th position in 2020, mostly due to its absorption of Los Andes Bank. It’s also publicly traded in the Bolivian stock market.
This bank has the following financial size measuring key metrics:
Assets: $5,219 mill.
Liabilities: $4,929,4 mill.
Equity: $289,6 mill.
Annual income: $27,9 mill.
Credits’ portafolio: $3,483,3 mill.
Savings deposits’ size: $3,820,9 mill.
Available agencies in the country: >180
Available ATMs across the country: 505
What do we as Bolivians feel about the largest bank in our country?
We’ve, from our experiences, found that this bank offers decent services, and has a little bit cheaper commissions for transactions than other banks. It also provides more security when withdrawing money inside an agency, as it requires you to provide at the same time multiple safety measures, like fingerprint reading along with your ID and your debit card.
Furthermore, the agencies of this bank are empty most of the time, allowing us to get faster services. But beyond these advantages, we haven’t found this bank is greatly better than others available in the country. It offers the same interest rates for different kinds of loans and savings accounts and the number of ATMs available is not much higher than other Banks. Moreover, its smartphone app is not the best out there.
Top 5 largest banks in Bolivia
According to the same ranking of “America Economia” (full report: in Spanish, or translated), the 5 largest banks in Bolivia asked for 2020 are the following:
- Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank (96th position).
- Union Bank (117th position).
- BNB Bank (121st position).
- Bisa Bank (142nd position).
- Credit Bank (150th position).
| Position (largest) | Bank name | Assets (in millions) | Liabilities (in millions) | Equity (in millions) | Annual income (in millions) | Credits’ portfolio (in millions) | Savings deposits’ size (in millions) |
| 1 | Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank | $5,219 | $4,929.4 | $289.6 | $27.9 | $3,483.3 | $3,820.9 |
| 2 | Union Bank | $4,181.5 | $3,869.1 | $312.4 | $35.8 | $2,587.4 | $2,762.8 |
| 3 | BNB Bank | $3,846.5 | $3,589.6 | $256.4 | $33.5 | $2,653.6 | $2,786.3 |
| 4 | Bisa Bank | $3,296.5 | $3,067 | $229.5 | $31.1 | $2,173.7 | $2,487.2 |
| 5 | Credit Bank | $2,959.4 | $2,751.7 | $207.7 | $29.7 | $2,134.9 | $2,277.7 |
1) Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank
As we said in the above section, the Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank (Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz) is the biggest in Bolivia, and it has been the case since the America Economia ranking started measuring bank sizes in 2013.
The Mercantile Santa Cruz has the following financial size measuring key metrics:
Assets: $5,219 mill.
Liabilities: $4,929.4 mill.
Equity: $289.6 mill.
Annual income: $27.9 mill.
Credits’ portafolio: $3,483.3 mill.
Savings deposits’ size: $3,820.9 mill.
Available agencies in the country: >180
Available ATMs across the country: 505
2) Union Bank
The Union Bank (Banco Union) is a public bank that belongs to the government of Bolivia. It attends largely both private and public clients and also is largely involved in social credits and public projects that the Bolivian government normally runs.
The Union Bank has the following financial size measuring key metrics:
Assets: $4,181.5 mill.
Liabilities: $3,869.1 mill.
Equity: $312.4 mill.
Annual income: $35.8 mill.
Credits’ portafolio: $2,587.4 mill.
Savings deposits’ size: $2,762.8 mill.
Available agencies in the country: 219
Available ATMs across the country: 412
3) BNB Bank
The BNB Bank (Banco Nacional de Bolivia BNB) is also ranked as the best bank of Bolivia, according to the CAMELS banking rating system applied in Bolivia (see the full report here: in Spanish, or translated).
The BNB Bank has the following financial size measuring key metrics:
Assets: $3,846.5 mill.
Liabilities: $3,589.6 mill.
Equity: $256.4 mill.
Annual income: $33.5 mill.
Credits’ portafolio: $2,653.6 mill.
Savings deposits’ size: $2,786.3 mill.
Available agencies in the country: 81
Available ATMs across the country: 379
4) Bisa Bank
The Bisa Bank (Banco Bisa) has almost 60 years of history in Bolivia. It was first an industrial bank that served mostly mining agricultural companies, but later it turned into a commercial bank that could serve different kinds of businesses and also personal clients.
The Bisa Bank has the following financial size measuring key metrics:
Assets: $3,296.5 mill.
Liabilities: $3,067 mill.
Equity: $229.5 mill.
Annual income: $31.1 mill.
Credits’ portafolio: $2,173.7 mill.
Savings deposits’ size: $2,487.2 mill.
Available agencies in the country: 82
Available ATMs across the country: 339
5) Credit Bank
The Credit Bank (Banco De Credito BCP) is filial of the Peruvian Credit Bank, which was born from the acquisition of a prior Bolivian bank called the Popular Bank. Since that point in time, the Credit Bank in Bolivia has stepped to become one of the largest operating in the country.
The Credit Bank has the following financial size measuring key metrics:
Assets: $2,959.4 mill.
Liabilities: $2,751.7 mill.
Equity: $207.7 mill.
Annual income: $29.7 mill.
Credits’ portafolio: $2,134.9 mill.
Savings deposits’ size: $2,277.7 mill.
Available agencies in the country: >80
Available ATMs across the country: ~300
Top largest banks in Bolivia by type of bank
In Bolivia, you’ll find 3 main types of banks available for the general public:
- Multipurpose banks.
- Banks for small businesses (PYMEs).
- Institutions supporting social projects (IFDs).
The largest multipurpose bank
The major Banks of Bolivia are in this category. These are multi-purpose as they provide a wide range of services to different clients, like checkings and saving accounts, fixed term deposits, consumer, housing and business loans, credit cards, insurances, money transfers, utility payment systems, employer payments, etcetera.
In Bolivia, there are only 12 multi-purpose major banks, of which, as we’ve said, the largest one is:
- The Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank (with assets of $5,219 million).
The largest bank for small businesses (PYME)
In this category are the banks focused on supporting the foundation and growth of small businesses that have capital from $10,000 to $1 million. These banks are very focused on small businesses, of which there are a lot, and are constantly being founded in Bolivia. Another way to see these Banks is as Bolivian entrepreneurship supporters.
In Bolivia, there are hundreds of banks of this type, some of them are very small, but the largest one is:
- The BancoSol Bank (with assets of $2043,7 million) (English website).
There are also little and small financial institutions that are focused on funding and growing social projects and non-profit organizations, they also help vulnerable groups of the population. These institutions can’t be called “banks”, but do offer some services of normal banks, like giving loans to organizations and also giving loans to particulars in financial trouble.
There are hundreds of these institutions, many of them in rural areas of Bolivia, but the largest one is:
- Diaconia IFD (with assets of $55,4 million).
Conclusions:
In this note about the largest banks that exist in Bolivia, you’ve found that the largest bank in 2020, according to the reputable South American ranking magazine “America Economia”, was the Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank, which had total assets of around $5.2 billion. This bank also has around 180 agencies and 505 ATMs across the country.
You’ve seen that this bank is also rated as the 2nd best bank in Bolivia, according to the CAMEL ranking system. Moreover, you learned that other banks are very close in size, like the Union Bank, which is the 2nd largest one; the BNB Bank, being the 3rd largest one; the Bisa Bank, being the 4th and the Credit Bank, being the 5th largest.
Finally, you saw that the largest multipurpose bank in Bolivia is, again, the Mercantile Santa Cruz Bank, the largest bank for small businesses (PYMEs) is the BancoSol Bank and the largest institution for social projects is Diaconia IFD.
We hope this information has helped you, and if you want to know more about the 12 major Banks available in Bolivia, also from a perspective of the quality of services they offer to both Bolivians and foreigners, visit our dedicated guide: Banks in Bolivia, a complete guide and list.
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