Bancoestado Servicios de Cobranza S.A. (Chile)

Bancoestado Servicios de Cobranza S.A. is a company located in Santiago, Chile. It was formed through the merger of four financial institutions that operated since 1855 with the opening of the Caja de Crédito Hipotecario. The company was initially proposed by Antonio Varas as a way for the state to support entrepreneurship and the needs of the people. The Caja de Crédito Hipotecario offered loans and accepted deposits from individuals and productive sectors at a time when Chile lacked banks. In 1884, the Caja de Ahorros de Santiago, also founded by Antonio Varas, opened its doors for the first time. It quickly gained popularity, with 45,000 accounts within a year. By 1905, there were Cajas de Ahorros in twelve cities across the country. In 1910, they all merged into the Caja Nacional de Ahorros, under the direction of Luis Barros Borgoño. Meanwhile, Santiago continued to have its own Caja, focusing on housing for workers and promoting the construction of urban neighborhoods. The growth of these institutions continued steadily. In 1953, the President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo merged the Caja de Crédito Hipotecario, Caja Nacional de Ahorros, Caja de Crédito Agrario, and Instituto de Crédito Industrial, giving rise to Banco del Estado de Chile, now known as BancoEstado. The bank began its operations on September 1, 1953, as an autonomous state-owned company with its own legal personality and assets. Initially, BancoEstado provided services through six departments: Banking, Savings, Agricultural, Industrial, Mortgage, and Investment. It focused on providing orderly and efficient credit to productive sectors and individuals who were not served by private banks. The bank aimed to bring banking benefits to all parts of the country, even to the most remote areas, regardless of commercial viability. BancoEstado's mission has always been to bring its products and services to the entire country, covering all economic segments and promoting financial inclusion.