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Residents of Macururé, in northern Bahia, may be without in-person banking services starting June 19, while clients will be directed to Chorrochó
Bradesco announced the closure of the only bank branch in Macururé, a municipality in the São Francisco Valley, in northern Bahia, and the decision has raised concerns among residents, merchants, retirees, and local authorities. The unit is scheduled to close on Friday, June 19, 2026.
According to Correio, more than 2,000 clients will be transferred to the nearest branch, located in Chorrochó. The problem is that the change forces part of the population to travel about 34 kilometers to receive in-person service.
The decision comes amid a broader process of reducing Bradesco’s physical network, which has been monitored by unions and residents of small towns in Bahia. In the case of Macururé, the main concern involves the elderly, retirees, public servants, merchants, and rural residents who still rely on counter service, the manager, and in-person services.
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The closure also raises a sensitive issue: how far does banking digitalization solve the client’s needs and when does it start to exclude those who do not have access, familiarity, or security to use apps?
Closure of Bradesco branch in Macururé worries residents and local commerce
Macururé has just over 7,000 inhabitants and, according to IBGE, recorded 7,256 residents in the 2022 Census. In towns of this size, the bank branch usually plays a larger role than just moving accounts: it helps keep money circulating in local commerce and reduces travel for payments, withdrawals, benefits, transfers, and banking problem resolution.
With the closure of the unit, clients will be served in Chorrochó, another municipality in the region. The distance may seem small to those living in large centers, but it weighs on residents who depend on public transport, hitchhiking, rural travel, or need to resolve banking issues frequently.
The situation is even more delicate because, according to Ronaldo Ornelas, director of the Bahia Bank Workers Union, most of the clients served in Macururé are retirees and the elderly. This group tends to face more difficulty with apps, digital passwords, mobile authentication, biometrics, and remote service.
For merchants, the impact can also appear in daily life. When residents need to travel to withdraw money, renegotiate a debt, resolve a block, or pay an obligation, part of this consumption may end up migrating to the city where the bank will continue to operate.
Public hearing gathered residents and municipality may try to block closure
The City Council of Macururé held a public hearing on June 9 to discuss the closure of the unit. The meeting brought together residents, representatives of the Bank Workers’ Union of Bahia, community leaders, and local authorities.
During the meeting, participants pointed out that Bradesco’s departure could directly affect retirees, public servants, small entrepreneurs, and rural residents. The main complaint is that the decision transfers a cost to the population that did not exist before: the cost of travel.
The expectation reported in the local investigation is that the municipality will file a lawsuit to try to prevent the closure. This approach has already been used by other cities in Bahia in similar situations, especially when the branch or service point was the only available in-person banking service.
Bradesco was contacted by the original report via email but had not responded by the time of publication. Without a specific public statement about Macururé, residents are still seeking to know if there will be a local alternative, such as an advanced post, reinforced correspondent, ATM, itinerant service, or similar structure.
Chorrochó will be the destination for clients, but the city has also faced a legal dispute over a bank
A point that draws attention is that Chorrochó, the municipality indicated as the destination for Macururé’s clients, has also been at the center of a dispute over banking services. In September 2025, a decision by the Bahia Court of Justice ordered Bradesco not to close the operations of a service point in the municipality.
At the time, the court understood that the departure would leave residents without local banking services and imposed a fine in case of non-compliance. The decision required maintaining operations until an advanced banking unit or similar structure was installed.
This history makes the case of Macururé more sensitive. After all, the city that is supposed to receive the transferred clients has also been treated as a vulnerable area in terms of access to in-person banking.
Chorrochó has 10,579 inhabitants, according to IBGE data for the 2022 Census. The sum of the populations of Macururé and Chorrochó shows that the decision does not involve just an isolated branch, but a region where small towns depend on few physical points to maintain basic financial services.
Closure of branches in Bahia is part of a larger bank restructuring
The case of Macururé is not isolated. Between October 2023 and April 2026, 55 Bradesco branches in Bahia were closed, while only six new units were opened, according to a survey by the Bahia Bank Workers’ Union cited in the local investigation.
The most relevant data is that 40 municipalities in Bahia would have lost the only Bradesco branch during the period. Together, these cities have more than 811 thousand inhabitants directly affected, especially in areas where the bank was one of the few options for in-person service.
The Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies also points to a scenario of low banking coverage in the state. Of the 417 municipalities in Bahia, only 203 currently have at least one bank branch, while 214 remain without this type of service.
This movement accompanies a national transformation in the financial sector. Traditional banks have been reducing branches, ATMs, and physical outlets while strengthening apps, internet banking, banking correspondents, and digital models of customer relationship.
Bradesco bets on digital, but exclusion still weighs in small towns
In an interview with Folha de S.Paulo, Bradesco’s president, Marcelo Noronha, stated that the bank plans to close between 600 and 700 branches and service points in 2026 to reduce costs. The executive also said that digital advancement has become essential in the face of declining traditional revenues and competition with fintechs.
Bradesco’s official page states that the service network includes branches, ATMs, Banco24Horas, Bradesco Expresso, and business units. These alternatives help explain the bank’s strategy but do not eliminate the concern of residents who need more comprehensive in-person service.
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