Caixa Econômica Federal announced this Monday (12) the expansion of measures aimed at women. Actions include lower credit rates, pausing benefit payments in the event of maternity or adoption, and waiving part of the fees for public bank products.
The female population represents a portion of the electorate in which President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) finds resistance on the eve of the October elections. The most recent Datafolha poll indicated that Bolsonaro is seen as the candidate who most attacks women.
The expansion of Caixa’s measures for customers was announced at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro with the participation of the bank’s president, Daniella Marques.
“Today there is a negligence in the financial sector in relation to communication and encouragement to women”, said Marques.
“The idea here is to open up and absorb the economic potential that women have. By statistics, it is clearly not absorbed in financial products. This has enormous space to happen”, he amended.
The event marked the one-month anniversary of Caixa Pra Elas. The program was launched in August with the promise of welcoming actions, financial guidance and exclusive service for the female public in branches and other channels of the bank.
The institution indicated that, in the individual modality, customers who contract the CDC (Crédito Directo Caixa) will have a 5% discount on the interest rate. In the consortium for light vehicles, the discount is 10% on the administration fee.
The bank also announced measures such as the three-month exemption in the basket of services for the current account, LCI (Letter of Real Estate Credit) with a profitability of up to 1 percentage point more than the CDI (Interbank Deposit Certificate) and Seguro Vida Mulher with exemption from payment in case of cancer and indemnity in case of cancer of the breast, ovary and uterus.
These measures are already available, according to the announcement. The plan is to make them permanent, although the bank has signaled that the shares will be constantly re-evaluated. Caixa indicated that it expects a positive financial impact with the eventual incorporation of more women into the clientele.
Caixa says that, until the end of September, the female public will also have the possibility of a four-month pause in payment on the CDC line, in renegotiation contracts and in Personal Credit Renewable Energy. The condition will be valid, according to the institution, in cases of maternity or adoption.
In real estate financing contracts, partial payment of the installment will be made available during maternity leave (75% of the installment for six months), with incorporation of the outstanding balance, if the contract is in default. This action should also be implemented by the end of September.
The institution says that pregnant women can benefit with a grace period of up to six months for the beginning of the payment of installments in the granting of housing credit SBPE (Brazilian Savings and Loan System).
Daniella Marques took charge of Caixa in early July amid a crisis at the bank. She replaced Pedro Guimarães, who left the presidency after becoming the target of complaints from employees for sexual harassment. Guimaraes denied the allegations. Since then, the bank has reinforced actions aimed at women.
“I took over the bank in the midst of a reputational crisis, linked to complaints about the former president. [Guimarães] it is not in the sense of condemning, but rather of having independence in the investigations. A very solid, independent, rigorous and permanent investigation governance was set up”, said Marques.
The president assessed that the bank’s main challenge is related to the digital area. “Caixa, for example, still doesn’t open a digital checking account,” she said. According to her, the institution is investing in the infrastructure of this area.
Marques also highlighted recent advances in the country’s economy, such as the increase in employment in the job market. However, he recognized difficulties such as the high indebtedness of Brazilians. She thanked Bolsonaro for his “trust” in his nomination.
“He placed in me the trust and, above all, the autonomy to lead a social bank with 161 years of history […]. I have had the independence and confidence to lead this project,” she reported.
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