Interview with Mr. Luzolo de Carvalho, Chief Executive Officer, Banco de Poupança e Crédito (BPC)

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Banco de Poupança e Crédito (BPC) is one of Angola’s most prominent and long-standing financial institutions. As Angola’s only government-owned commercial bank, BPC has significantly contributed to the country’s economic development. Based in Luanda, the bank is recognised as a systemically important financial institution, featuring the most extensive branch network in the country and serving as its main savings institution. BPC processes government salaries, pensions and social transfers and has traditionally been tapped for policy lending in sectors such as agriculture, housing and small-business development.​

Over the years, BPC has broadened its offerings beyond traditional savings and lending to include digital banking, payment services, corporate banking, investment products and customised financial solutions for diverse customer segments. The bank has committed to digital transformation by launching online banking platforms, mobile-banking applications and electronic payment systems. BPC has successfully weathered challenges, including nonperforming loans, and remains a cornerstone of the Angolan banking sector.​

BPC’s public ownership has allowed it to engage in strategic government initiatives focused on expanding financial inclusion, advancing infrastructure projects and improving businesses’ access to credit. The bank’s continuous modernisation initiatives showcase its dedication to enhancing customer relationships and increasing financial access in both urban and rural areas. It has been recognised for its innovation in retail banking, commitment to social and environmental initiatives, and ongoing financial restructuring and branch optimisation.​

BPC’s chief executive officer, Mr. Luzolo de Carvalho, recently shared with International Banker the highlights of the bank’s transformation journey.​

Mr. Luzolo de Carvalho, Chief Executive Officer, Banco de Poupança e Crédito (BPC)

Mr. de Carvalho, thank you for your time today….​

Banco de Poupança e Crédito (BPC) has undergone an extensive transformation programme over recent years, encompassing technology, governance and customer service. Looking back, what were the most significant milestones in the bank’s transformation journey? Which achievements are you most proud of personally? And which aspects of the transformation remain the most challenging to complete?​

Reconciling the cost structure with the capacity to generate revenue and achieving this balance to avoid and prevent the erosion of equity—which culminated in a return to positive results from 2024 onwards after eight years of negative results—was one of the major milestones in this transformation process. Added to that were the strengthening of the governance model and the internal control system, the technological modernisation of infrastructures and the stabilisation of banking services—but above all, the restoration of stakeholder confidence. The focus has been clear: to reinforce financial discipline, improve the quality of the balance sheet and prepare the bank for a new cycle of more sustainable and customer-oriented growth.

Today, BPC is a profitable and financially stable bank that actively develops solutions to improve the customer experience. Personally, I am proud of the progress achieved at the operational and commercial levels, where we recorded 154-percent growth in transactions at automatic payment terminals in the space of 12 months and developed solutions such as WhatsApp BPC and Localiza ATM. But the greatest achievement of all remains the empowerment of human capital and talent retention, which allows us to overcome various barriers daily.

Transforming a large, long-established institution requires more than investing in new technology. How have you sought to reshape the bank’s culture so that innovation and customer-centricity become embedded throughout the organisation? And how receptive have employees been to these cultural changes? ​

Digital transformation is inevitable; however, human capital remains our main asset and critical success factor. At BPC, we have learned firsthand that the success of a strategy depends directly on fostering a culture of innovation, agility and transformation. To reinforce this approach, we have prioritised consolidating a meritocracy based on strategies for compensation, development and talent retention. Thus, in practice, BPC’s cultural transformation was supported by the automation of strategic operational processes, coupled with skills development—strengthening a culture of responsibility and aligning teams with established objectives.

Today, innovation serves a merit-based culture with the ultimate goal of gradually improving the customer experience through the availability of new digital products and services. The results speak for themselves: We have reached historical levels of fundraising and moved into the top 10 in profitability for automatic payment terminals and ATMs (automated teller machines), with overall commercial indicators showing exponential growth.

BPC’s Information Systems Modernisation Programme (PMSI) is expected to underpin many of the bank’s future ambitions. Beyond replacing legacy systems, how will this programme fundamentally change the way BPC operates? What customer-facing improvements should clients expect to notice first? And how important is the new core-banking platform in enabling future innovations, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and open banking?​

The PMSI is far more than a systems replacement; it represents a generational leap. BPC is moving from a first-generation core, built for batch processing and branch-centric banking, directly to a third-generation platform: real-time, componentised, API (application programming interface)-native and built for a digital ecosystem. Few banks make a two-generation jump in a single programme, and that is precisely what makes this transformation so structural.

Operationally, this breakthrough changes how BPC works at its foundation: Processes that today depend on manual intervention and end-of-day cycles become straight-through and real-time; product launches that took months can be configured in weeks; and data becomes a live asset for decision-making, risk management and regulatory reporting, rather than something reconciled after the fact. Clients will notice the difference first in speed and reliability, real-time account visibility, faster payments and transfers, quicker account opening and credit decisions, and a consistent experience across digital channels or in a branch. Most importantly, the new core enables everything that comes next. Open banking, embedded finance, instant payments and data-driven products cannot be built on a first-generation platform. With a third-generation core, BPC gains the technological foundation to innovate at the pace the market demands—not as a one-off project, but as a permanent capability.

Data is becoming one of the banking industry’s most valuable strategic assets. How is BPC strengthening its ability to use customer data responsibly to improve products, manage risk and personalise services? And how do you balance greater personalisation with customers’ privacy expectations?​

BPC’s strategy and business model aim to strengthen and develop formulas that ensure excellent customer service, guaranteeing an increasingly effective alignment between customer needs and available products and services. To achieve this goal, the ambition to evolve into a fully data-driven model, capable of supporting faster, more informed and value-oriented decisions, has become evident. Consequently, we continuously invest in modernising our technological architecture, integrating systems and automating critical processes, allowing us to reinforce our real-time response capacity. This process includes implementing data protection, classification and leak-prevention tools. In short, technology has ceased to be a support and has become a true engine of transformation.

The bank’s mobile branches and intermittent branches demonstrate that physical banking still has an important role in Angola. How do you determine the right balance between physical access and digital delivery? Are customer preferences changing more quickly than you expected, and do you envisage a time when digital channels become the primary means of customer engagement?​

As a bank with exclusively public capital, BPC has a duty to promote the financial inclusion of the largest possible number of Angolans. Therefore, its approach is based on a hybrid model, combining the traditional-banking model—applicable to geographies where we cannot have a presence using technology—with the simultaneous offering of digital solutions to segments that already benefit from internet access. Thus, alongside its ongoing digital transformation, BPC continues its primary mission of ensuring universal access to banking solutions in Angola, contributing to the formalisation and diversification of the national economy. Even so, the bank has recorded progress in growing its digital customer base and in the increased weight of electronic transactions, which now represent a central component of its activity.

SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are expected to play a central role in Angola’s economic diversification. How is BPC adapting its banking model to better support entrepreneurs and smaller businesses? And beyond lending, what additional services are SMEs increasingly demanding?​

The bank has mechanisms in place to support and contribute to the development of SMEs, from granting credit to providing payment instruments at zero cost. More recently, we developed a reward model linked to the revenue of payment terminals, allowing entrepreneurs to obtain a bonus based on a minimum revenue amount. BPC also supports the Angolan government in implementing subsidised loans arising from situations of calamity and force majeure, aimed at the corporate segment, which includes SMEs. In addition, BPC provides small and medium-sized entrepreneurs with innovative solutions in payment systems, automation of operations and a variety of digital channels, such as WhatsApp BPC, allowing them to use banking services without having to go to a branch. We also stress the bank’s presence in the most remote areas of the country through physical structures—as the bank with the greatest territorial representation—allowing it to serve entrepreneurs who conduct their activities outside the main commercial and administrative centres of the country and guaranteeing access to banking products and services.

Many institutions describe themselves as customer-centric, often by embedding customer feedback into strategic decision-making. How does BPC ensure that customers genuinely influence product and/or service development? Can you share an example of when customer feedback directly shaped a product or service?​

Feedback management is ensured through three main channels: complaints/suggestions, data monitoring (automation) and human capital (employees). The interconnection between these channels allows us to specifically define the main action guidelines.

For example, when we installed mobile structures in the main informal markets of the capital, Luanda, the traders interacted directly with the field teams and expressed their dissatisfaction with the daily transaction limits in our digital channels. This led us to adjust these limits within 15 days, allowing us to quickly retain them. Another interesting case: In Angola, the demand for cash is high, and the number of ATMs is still insufficient. Therefore, BPC developed a service that allows real-time relocation of ATMs that have cash, available to both bank clients and non-clients. Additionally, we, the employees of BPC, are also clients of the bank and experience its challenges and constraints. Therefore, we seek to adapt our offerings to the needs of our clients, because we feel them—in a continuous effort to adapt and keep up with the main trends.

Expanding access to finance remains a major challenge for many businesses. How is BPC ensuring it consistently strikes the right balance between prudent risk management and supporting economic growth? Are there any specific structural barriers that continue to constrain lending? What policy reforms do you think would most improve access to finance?​

The constraints on granting credit remain, to a large extent, structural. Of particular note are the high informality of the economy, the still limited quality of available financial information and weaknesses in guarantees and collateral. These factors increase perceived risk and condition the capacity for credit expansion. The solution involves an integrated approach that promotes the formalisation of the economy, strengthens risk-mitigation mechanisms and develops instruments that facilitate structured financing.

Internally, the credit strategy has evolved into a more disciplined, selective and risk-oriented lending model, with a clear focus on inclusive and short-term credit, ensuring greater predictability of flows and better risk control. We have gradually increased the weight of productive credit in the portfolio, aligning prudence with economic impact. The goal is not just to grow, but to grow with quality, effectively contributing to the diversification of the economy and the creation of sustainable value.

BPC is certainly setting the best course to achieve that important goal. Thank you again for your time, Mr. de Carvalho.​

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