The Mayor of Cerveira announced today the end of commercial relations with Santander, after the bank announced for the 20th the closure of the county branch.
In addition to the decision to “discontinue all commercial relations” with Santander Totta, “privileging the two banking institutions that maintain physical counters in the municipality”, the independent mayor Fernando Nogueira criticizes the Socialist Party’s position regarding intervention in Portuguese banking.
“The truth is that when things go wrong, the Socialist Party intervenes to save the banks from the bad decisions they are making, appearing with a bag full of euros and injecting many millions who are taxpayers and, therefore, all of us” , says the mayor quoted in a note sent today to newsrooms.
“We hope that the Cerveirenses reflect and are attentive to this reality, and make the most appropriate decisions to defend their interests”, reinforces the mayor elected by the PenCe Movement – Pensar Cerveira.
Lusa contacted Banco Santander, but without success.
Fernando Nogueira adds that, “in September, when the first rumors about the closing of the branch came up”, he requested a meeting with the management of that banking institution “which guaranteed that, at that moment, there was no reason to worry”.
“At this meeting, very explicit arguments were presented that supported the maintenance of this banking dependency in the municipality of Vila Nova de Cerveira. We are the 13th most exporting municipality in the North region (in a total of 86 municipalities) and the second in Alto Minho, with an export volume of 700 million euros in 2019. We started 2020 with very significant export values of 174.5 million euros euros, being the first in the Viana do Castelo district ”, he stressed.
The mayor also argued with “the second best ‘per capita’ income in the district, the most significant population increase in the 10 counties in the region, with a positive percentage variation, between 2018 and 2019”.
Arguments that, according to the mayor, “were not enough for the Santander management to reconsider this unilateral decision that, in this context, for a layman, can be seen as bad management”.
“Unfortunately, in their view, banking institutions are optimizing resources and closing several branches across the country, but the specific reality of the territories and the needs of older people cannot be neglected, with no possibility of carrying out their transactions. via the Internet or to travel because of the burden on the family budget ”, he maintains.
In October, the Mayor of Melgaço, in the district of Viana do Castelo, also expressed his “total dissatisfaction” with the closure of the branch in the municipality, accusing the bank’s administration of “turning its back” on the population.
Manoel Batista said he was informed that the counter is scheduled to close on the 13th.
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