Caixa Econômica Federal (, ''Federal Savings Bank''), also referred to as Caixa, is a
state-owned Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian
financial services company headquartered in
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
, Brazil. It is the fourth largest banking institution in Brazil, as well as the
fourth largest in Latin America, and the
eighty-third largest bank in the world. It is also the largest 100% government-owned financial institution in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.
History
The bank was founded by
Emperor Pedro II on 12 January 1861, as ''Caixa Económica e Monte de Socorro'' in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
as a financial institution destined to collect national
savings
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an ...
, mostly from the poor. Over the years, several similar institutions were created until most of them were merged into present-day Caixa Econômica in 1967.
The 1970s were particularly lucrative for the bank, mostly due to its near-monopoly on savings for the poor and lower-middle classes, the management of Brazilian state (federal) lotteries and being the only lawful
pawn broker in Brazil. In the 1990s, however, the scenario changed and the bank underwent a serious downsizing, in which thousands of employees lost their jobs. Part of the problem was caused by the modernization of the Brazilian banking system in the 1980s, with many other banks introducing savings accounts to their portfolios, Brazilian states being granted rights to hold their own lotteries in addition to the federal government's, a series of corruption scandals regarding lottery fraud, and the opening of the national market to foreign banks. The control of
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...
also hampered Caixa's financial performance by making savings accounts less attractive.
Nowadays, Caixa is the second biggest Brazilian bank
[
] and with locations in thousands of Brazilian towns, ranked the third-largest financial institution in Brazil by number of branches. Caixa has more than 146 million accounts,
with liabilities worth more than
R$ 237.00 billion in savings or investment. Together with government pension funds and other governmental resources, Caixa controls more than R$1.80 trillion (roughly about US$630 billion). Caixa is seen as a tool for public investment and expansion of access to financial services to the Brazilian public.
Caixa is still the manager of most Brazilian lotteries, especially the most popular ones, such as
Mega-Sena, Quina and Loteca (former Loteria Esportiva). The profits of Brazilian state (federal) lotteries revert to amateur sport promotion and elementary education.
See also
*
Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Serviço (FGTS)
*
Lotofácil
External links
Official website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caixa Economica Federal
Banks of Brazil
Companies based in Brasília
Banks established in 1861
1861 establishments in Brazil
Government-owned companies of Brazil
Brazilian brands