Banco do Brasil

Is Banco do Brasil safe?

For a depositor, yes, within the FGC limit. Banco do Brasil is Brazil's oldest bank and the second-largest by assets, with R$2,585 billion of assets in June 2026, and the federal Treasury owns half of it. Its CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary was 11.27% against an 8.00% requirement, and its liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary was 179%. The FGC insures up to R$250,000 per person.

We score it 69/100, one point below Bradesco and four below Itaú Unibanco. Its liquidity and deposit base are among the strongest in Brazil. Its capital is the weak spot: the buffer is about three points, profits have fallen as farm loans turned bad, and part of its core capital is a loan from its main shareholder.

The farm loan problem

Banco do Brasil is the main lender to Brazilian agriculture. Its farm book was R$422 billion in June 2026, about a third of all loans. Many farmers hit by bad weather and heavy debts fell behind: farm loans more than 90 days late rose from 3.2% to 6.3% of the farm book between June 2025 and June 2026, and in September 2025 the government created a credit line to refinance farm debts after climate losses. Across the whole bank, loans 90 days late rose from 3.96% to 5.61%, and provisions fell from 183% to 148% of them.

Adjusted profit was R$7.3 billion in the first half of 2026, 34% less than a year earlier, and the bank's own guidance for the full year is R$18 billion to R$22 billion. An 8% return on equity is low for a Brazilian bank and means capital rebuilds slowly. The CET1 ratio includes R$4.1 billion of a hybrid instrument lent by the federal government, a reminder that the Treasury has propped up its capital before; in 2018 it owed about R$8.1 billion in such instruments.

What protects your deposits

The Fundo Garantidor de Créditos is a private fund paid for by Brazilian banks, Banco do Brasil included. For a BB customer:

• R$250,000 per person per financial group. All BB banks in Brazil count as one.
• Covered: current accounts, savings (poupança), CDBs, LCIs, LCAs and similar bank-issued instruments.
• Not covered: BB Asset funds, shares, and Brasilprev PGBL or VGBL pension plans.
• A cap of R$1 million per person across all banks, renewed every four years.

State ownership adds a layer the FGC does not: it is hard to imagine the government letting a bank it half owns, which also pays out farm credit programmes and holds R$281 billion of court deposits, fail in a disorderly way. But that support is not written into law. Treat the R$250,000 limit as the real protection.

Fines, complaints and security

Banco do Brasil's record with its regulator is close to clean: the only fine against the bank in the Central Bank's sanctions database since 2013 is R$100,000, imposed in October 2020 and upheld on appeal in September 2021. Consumer agencies are a different story. In September 2026 Procon-MPMG, the Minas Gerais consumer authority, fined it R$5.4 million after finding that customers had been sold insurance with payroll loans without clear consent, some believing it was required. The bank says the insurance was optional and disclosed.

In the Central Bank's complaints ranking for the third quarter of 2026, BB had an index of 29.9 justified complaints per million customers, better than Bradesco (57.2) and Itaú (43.2) and about level with Santander.

On security, the bank has not disclosed a large breach. In November 2025 the Federal Police arrested a BB employee in Rio de Janeiro who was using malware on a branch computer to collect customer and manager data for a fraud ring; the bank said its own staff spotted the activity and no data leaked. Customers reported app outages in February and June 2026.

How to protect your money at Banco do Brasil

1. Keep FGC-covered balances under R$250,000 per person across all BB accounts and investments.
2. Check whether a product is a bank-issued CDB, LCI or LCA (covered) or a fund or Brasilprev plan (not covered).
3. Read every payroll loan contract for added insurance and ask for it to be removed if you did not request it.
4. Set a low night-time Pix limit and never move money because a caller says your account is at risk.
5. Check Registrato at the Central Bank for loans you did not take out.

How we scored it

Liquidity (82) and deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (75) are Banco do Brasil's strongest factors: a 179% LCRLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary, a large base of court and savings deposits, and a state shareholder. Capital (57) is the weakest, with a three-point CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary buffer, falling profits and hybrid capital from the Treasury. Conduct (70) and digital security (68) reflect consumer fines and fraud attempts rather than large regulator sanctions.