The bank revealed that it does not intend to abandon its physical network, stating that it wants to maintain a balance between branches and digital services. The announcement was made by Miguel Maya, chief executive of Millennium BCP, on 28 October, who stressed that the bank has no overall plan to close branches across the country.
On 30 September 2026, the bank had ten fewer branches than a year earlier, bringing the total to 384. The bank's workforce in Portugal also fell to 5,983 employees at the end of September, compared with 6,224 recorded the previous year.
Miguel Maya said the figures reflected a controlled adjustment rather than a retreat from the bank's services. He also explained that the transition to the digital sector does not mean the physical network will disappear, adding that BCP aims to create a “balanced relationship that creates value”.
Changes to be implemented
Miguel Maya said the bank would close branches that fail to attract customers or generate business. He also acknowledged the possibility of opening new branches in areas experiencing urban growth, although the locations have not yet been disclosed.
Since 2017, Millennium BCP has been developing its Customer Branch Experience 2.0 project, involving futuristic branches that replace paper contracts with digital signatures on tablets, provide round-the-clock cash services through smart machines, and feature lounge areas with free Wi-Fi.
The project is part of the bank's 2025-2028 strategic plan and aims to maintain human interaction as a key element of its services while modernising its physical premises.
In an effort to reassure BCP customers, Miguel Maya reiterated that human contact at branches remains highly important to the company and is essential to its work with clients.
The executive also explained that the workforce reduction resulted from voluntary departures and early retirements, alongside recruitment in specific areas.
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It's absurd that in 2026 people are still fighting modernity and digital technology to try to keep us in the 1960s when only the relatively wealthy in Portugal would have had a car or home phone. Millennium could easily slash its branch network from nearly 400 to less than a dozen, if it really wanted to. Think of the saving that would bring, assuming customers were prepared to do everything online, like I do.
I'm sick and tired of people and organisations not responding to my emails, and if they do, they're more likely to phone me.....whilst I'm driving, in the toilet or otherwise occupied. I don't see why people phoning or calling in person should be given preference for a response over me, simply because their voice can be heard, or they can be seen.
Rejecting modern technology comes at a huge cost to each one of us in costly displacements to physical locations, costly phone calls, and high costs of mailing (stamps), not to mention the huge waste of time and resources (paper).
There's something wrong with people with an irrational fear of modernity, it's like a mental illness that they're suffering from.
When you call a taxi, a car arrives, not a man on horseback! If people can accept the motor car as a replacement to horses and donkeys, then surely they can accept digital technology.
By Billy Bissett from Porto on 04 Nov 2026, 11:43