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Best bank: Banco Nacional de Costa Rica |
Costa Rica’s president, Oscar Arias, and the senior executives of the three leading public banks in Costa Rica, Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) and Banco Crédito Agricola de Cartago (Bancredito), continued talks in March about a potential merger.
Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, the largest of these three in terms of loans, deposits and assets, is likely to take a leading role in this merger as and when it is completed. In March, BNCR took the first steps in this consolidation process when it signed an agreement with BCR, the second-largest bank in the country, which allows customers to cash cheques and make deposits – in dollars and colones – at any of the 400 branches nationwide.