Scotiabank Continues Massive Expansion

After buying out Costa Rica’s largest private bank earlier this year, Canadian based Scotiabank is preparing to give its name and logo to the 25 Banco Interfín branches around the country.

Scotiabank began taking over the operations of Corporación Interfín, the parent company of Banco Interfín, after a $293 million buyout (TT, June 16). Scotiabank has since been integrating the information and marketing systems of the two banks. The 25 Interfín branches in the country will soon become Scotiabank branches along with the existing 17 Scotiabank offices in Costa Rica.

Scotiabank has operated in Costa Rica since 1995. Calling itself “Canada’s most international bank,” the company operates in Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Belize and Chile, has an affiliate in Venezuela and a representative office in Brazil. Interfín was founded in 1979 and claimed to be Costa Rica’s largest private bank leading up to the buyout.

The combined operation will have 42 branches, 75 automatic-teller machines, $1.6 billion in assets and $1 billion in deposits, and represent 13% of Costa Rica’s loan market, according to the weekly El Financiero.

The purchase meant that 91.7% of private-bank assets in Costa Rica belong to foreign banks. Only two of the 11 private banks in the country, BCT and Improsa, are Costa Rican owned.