In December 2009, AdC published a report on Mobility in the Retail Banking Sector in Portugal, drawn up jointly with Banco de Portugal.
The study aims to characterize the mobility of retail banking customers in Portugal, also seeking to identify factors that may constitute barriers to mobility.
For this purpose, some aspects of the bank/customer relationship are analyzed within the scope of contracts signed with individuals and with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, demand deposits, term deposits, consumer credit, mortgage loans and credit cards are analysed, in the case of private customers, whereas, in the case of SMEs, the study focuses on the following products: demand deposits, bank loans and lines of credit (including credit cards).
The study presents a theoretical review of the barriers to mobility in the functioning of markets, describes the best practices adopted at the European level in the field of promoting consumer mobility and analyzes the Portuguese case. In the analysis of the national cause, the study characterizes the behaviour of customers concerning changing banks, based on information collected through a survey carried out in a group of banking institutions, subsequently identifying the factors that can lead to barriers to mobility.
The study concludes that there is evidence that, as in other European countries, there are barriers to mobility in the context of retail banking in Portugal. The results of the analysis suggest that the mobility of bank customers is lower than the European average, both in the case of private customers and in the case of SMEs.