Bank of the City of Buenos Aires

Overview

The bank was chartered on May 23, 1878, as the Monte de Piedad (Piety Mount) in a measure against the prevalence of usury in Buenos Aires (mostly targeting the growing wave of immigration in Argentina). The board of directors' first meeting on July 10 outlined the goal of "serving the working community, which is in the greatest need of such an institution." Opening its doors in a Montserrat ward residence formerly belonging to Viceroy Joaquín del Pino (1801–04), the bank grew quickly; in 1888, it was nationalized and transferred to the City of Buenos Aires.

Its new headquarters in the financial district was accompanied by new market capitalization, allowing it provide personal, business and mortgage loans and payday advances. It soon began to administer pension funds and became a leading local source for underwriting of initial public offering activity on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, government bonds, and foreign trade, as well. The institution was rechartered officially as the Municipal Savings and Loan Bank in 1904.

Following initially disappointing results, increased investment in bank branches, agencies and other forms of representation led to the institution's renewed growth, particularly during the tenure of bank president Enrique Peña, who in 1916 committed the institution to "combat usury in the most effective possible way – making branches readily available throughout the city so as to lessen inconvenience to those who need our services."

A nationalist coup in 1943 led to the sudden advent of Col. Juan Perón as the new regime's chief policy-maker. The new government quickly made the control of price gouging in banking and public services a policy centerpiece, and in 1944, the savings & loan was again re-chartered as the Municipal Bank of Buenos Aires to give depositors more commercial banking options in Argentina's growing public sector.

The bank became a leader in small business lending, and financed public housing projects in underprivileged areas. The city purchased a downtown lot on the massive Nueve de Julio Avenue (where the Mercado del Plata wholesaler stood) in 1947 for the construction of municipal offices, and an important branch was opened therein after the building's 1961 completion. The bank's headquarters were relocated to a refurbished Florida Street building, the former A la Ciudad de México department store, in 1968. These and other new offices allowed the bank to expand its larger-scale commercial lending activities. Its growing competition with the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires led to the adoption of its current name in 1972.

The Bank of the City of Buenos Aires is the ninth-largest in Argentina by deposits, which in February 2010 totaled US$3.6 billion (3.6% of the domestic total), and its loan portfolio of US$2.8 billion made it the nation's eighth-largest lender; it maintained 61 branches, employing over 3,000 people.

Córdoba

The new branch in the capital city of Cordoba, located in 45 Buenos Aires St., is already running and open to the public from 8:30 to 13:30hs, and offers all banking and financial services.

The inauguration ceremony in Cordoba's Capital became a prominent political event, mainly because of its attendees, politicians from both national and provincial arches, from different parties. Among them were the Vice-Gobernor Martín Miguel Llaryora; the city's mayor, Javier Ramón Mestre; the Vice-Chief of Government of Buenos Aires, Diego Santilli; the former president of the bank and current Minister of the Interior Rogelio Frigerio; the Vice-Mayor of Cordoba Felipe Lábaque; the national senator Laura Rodríguez Machado and the national deputy Héctor Baldassi.

The Bank offers free Savings, Checking and Remuneration Accounts, credit and debit cards, and personal and mortgage loans. Companies, as well as small and medium size enterprises will benefit from personalized customer service and counseling, and will have at their disposal the wide rang of products the bank has to offer, such as funding lines for working capital and capital and leasing goods, with the most competitive rates and terms of the market, to allow to development of productive, farming and service activities in the region.

Ortiz Batalla, current president of the Bank of the City of Buenos Aires, has announced a modernization plan which includes the permanent update of the virtual operation channels, homebanking, and the brand-new mobile banking app the bank launched in March. It also contemplates an ambitious program to renew their fleet of ATMs.

Branches in Buenos Aires City

The bank has around fifty offices in all of Buenos Aires, some of them designed by MSGSSS studio in 1960s, during the expansion at the end of 1960s. They possess a representative aesthetic, with blue glass panes, metallic linings and white interiors, even though some offices keep the original appearance, with glass bricks on the front.

Headquarters

The current bank's head office was designed by MSGSSS studio in 1968, as a symbol of the entity's openness towards new directions. It was built in record time and inaugurated the following year. Since then it has become a well-recognized architectural piece because of the extensive use of glass bricks as a construction material, the integral design of all its furniture and the idea of building a bank with a glazed panel, open to the public on the pedestrian Florida St., unlike the classic concept of a sturdy and closed bank, which attempted to give an image of trust and safety.

Located in a building that had been erected for a "A la Ciudad de México" store, on the corner of Florida and Sarmiento St., the structure was kept by the interior was totally remodeled, and display cases and marquees were open on the facade to showcase the items going up for auction and the bank activity to the walking public.

Between 1977 and 1981, an extension to the headquarters of the Bank of the City of Buenos Aires was built, with access through 630 Sarmiento St., today known as the "Centre Branch". This new access was commissioned to Aslan and Ezcurra architects, and consisted of a glazed tower with metal beams of seven underground levels, plus ground level and 18 floors.

In August 2016, the headquarters were re-inaugurated with an avant-garde remodeling, following the parameters outlined in its original construction. This re-inauguration had been planned in 2008 by the current President of the Central Bank, Federico Sturzenegger.

Esmeralda complex

A few blocks away, on 660 Esmeralda St., lies the Esmeralda complex, also known as the Sales Building, where the bank has been holding its public auctions since the 1930s. This building was also remodeled by MSGSSS in 1969, and it stands out because of its ramps and extensive counters with objects up four auction.

Municipal Savings and Loans Bank

The board of directors first meeting after its establishment, on July 10, outlined the goal of "serving the working community, which is in the greatest need of such an institution."

The bank opened its doors in a Monserrat Ward residence that formerly belong to Viceroy Joaquin del Pino, it grew quickly and changed its name six times until it reached its current denomination. The first substantial change occurred in 1888 when, after the federalization of Buenos Aires, the bank was nationalized and transferred to the jurisdiction of the City of Buenos Aires. On September 30, 1904, through law 4351, the institution was called "Municipal Savings and Loans Bank".

Its new headquarters in the financial district were accompanied by new market capitalization, and it allowed it to provide personal, business and mortgage loans and payday advances. It soon began to administer pension funds and became a leading local source of underwriting of initial public offering activity on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, provincial and national government bonds, and foreign trade, as well. But the main change was that the bank was allowed to collect the public's deposits in Savings Accounts.

At first, it followed disappointing results, which increased investment in bank branches, agencies and other forms of representation, and led to the institution's renewed growth, particularly during the tenure of bank president Enrique Peña, who in 1916 committed the institution to "combat usury in the most effective possible way – making branches readily available throughout the city so as to lessen inconvenience to those who need our services."