News

More financial institutions seeking links to Chile's Redbanc network

August 19, 2002

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chilean finance company Financiera Conosur wants to link its ATMs to Redbanc, Chile's largest ATM network, in order to offer better service to its clients, Conosur CEO Jose Concha told the financial daily El Diario.

Conosur is a member of Chile's second ATM network Globalnet, which has 775 ATMs compared to the larger Redbanc's 2,660 machines. The Globalnet network is dominated by state bank BancoEstado, while Chile's largest private retail banks belong to Redbanc.

According to Concha, Conosur is ready to begin talks with Redbanc. Access to Redbanc's network is important, Concha said, because Conosur is one of Chile's largest credit card issuers. Conosur is Chile's only remaining independent finance company and is controlled by local economic group Grupo del Rio.

Intense merger and acquisition activity in Chile's banking industry over the past few years has left Redbanc dominated by Spanish financial group Santander Central Hispano (SCH) and local bank Banco de Chile, which own 33.4 percent and 25.4 percent of the network, respectively. (See related story Chilean ATM market heats up)

In July, Mauricio Larrain, who is the head of SCH's Chilean operations, said at a press conference he believed more financial entities should be given access to the Redbanc network. Concha qualified Larrain's words as proof of a "better environment," which is "positive" and should ease the way toward a link between Globalnet financial institutions and Redbanc.

BancoEstado has been negotiating with Redbanc member banks for some time to gain access to the Redbanc network, according to a report in the trade publication BNamericas. BancoEstado chairman Jaime Estevez told BNamericas earlier this year that some of the Redbanc member banks sees BancoEstado as a dangerous competitor that would become even more competitive if it could offer its clients access to the Redbanc network.