The following list of banks in Portugal is to be understood within the framework of the European single market and European banking union, which means that Portugal's banking system is more open to cross-border banking operations than peers outside of the EU.
Policy framework
European banking supervision distinguishes between significant institutions (SIs) and less significant institutions (LSIs), with SI/LSI designations updated regularly by the European Central Bank (ECB). Significant institutions are directly supervised by the ECB using joint supervisory teams that involve the national competent authorities (NCAs) of individual participating countries. Less significant institutions are supervised by the relevant NCA on a day-to-day basis, under the supervisory oversight of the ECB.[1] In Portugal's case, the NCA is the Bank of Portugal.[2]
Significant institutions
As of 2025-9-1, the list of supervised institutions maintained by the ECB included the following three Portuguese banking groups as SIs, with names as indicated by the ECB for each group's consolidating entity:[3]
Meanwhile LSF / Novo Banco has been acquired by BPCE (which already owns Banco Primus in Portugal), and other euro-area-based banking groups also have operations in Portugal. A study published in 2024 assessed that the bank with most aggregate assets in Portugal (as opposed to total consolidated assets) as of end-2023 was CGD at €99 billion, followed by BCP (€68 billion), Santander (€65 billion, via Banco Santander Portugal), Novo Banco (€44 billion), and CaixaBank (€39 billion, via Banco BPI).[4] Other euro-area banking groups are unmentioned in this list because they operate in Portugal via a branch, such as BBVA, even though it also maintains a Portuguese subsidiary. The two other euro-area SIs that operate in Portugal via subsidiaries are Abanca
Less significant institutions
As of 2025-9-1, the ECB's list of supervised institutions included 94 Portuguese LSIs.[3]
High-impact LSIs
Of these, the following three were designated by the ECB as "high-impact" on the basis of several criteria including size:
- Banco CTT, subsidiary of CTT Correios de Portugal
- Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo, central entity of the Crédito Agrícola Group (see also below)
- Caixa Económica Montepio Geral SA, central entity of the Montepio Group
Local agricultural cooperatives
72 other LSIs were local agricultural cooperatives.
Other institutions
The Bank of Portugal and Banco Português de Fomento are public credit institutions that do not hold a banking license under EU law. Caixas economicas (small local savings banks) under public law are also specifically exempted from application of the EU Capital Requirements Directives.[7]
Defunct banks
A number of former Portuguese banks, defined as having been headquartered in the present-day territory of Portugal, are documented on Wikipedia, listed below in chronological order of establishment.
- Crédito Predial Português (1863-2004)
- Banco Nacional Ultramarino (1864-2001)
- Banco Espírito Santo (1869-2016)
- Banco da Régua (1874-1886)
- Banco Fernandes Magalhães (1905-1975)
- Banco Português do Atlântico (1942-2000)
- Banco Pinto de Magalhães (1952-1978)
- Banco Totta-Aliança (1961-1969)
- Banco Totta & Açores (1970-2004)
- Banif Financial Group (1988-2015)
- Banco Português de Negócios
See also
- List of banks in the euro area
- List of banks in Europe
References
- What are less significant institutions? European Central Bank, 2024-8-2^
- Members and Observers European Banking Authority, retrieved 2025-11-19^
- List of supervised entities - Cut-off date for changes in group structures: 1 September 2025