A new pilot project called "Multibanco + Perto" ("Multibanco + Nearby") launched this week, aiming to bring basic banking services to Portuguese towns that have gone without a nearby bank branch or ATM for years. The first agreement was signed on Monday in Tó, a parish of around two hundred residents in the municipality of Mogadouro, Bragança district, previously, anyone there needing cash had to travel 18 kilometres to the municipal seat and back.
What the terminals actually do
Rather than installing full ATMs, the program places digital SmartPOS terminals inside parish council (junta de freguesia) offices. According to the Ministry of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, these terminals cover roughly 90% of the operations people actually use a Multibanco machine for: cash withdrawals, utility and government payments, mobile top-ups, public transport card reloads, and balance or statement checks. The units can also be brought directly to residents with mobility restrictions, letting them access these services without leaving home.
The project is a joint effort between the government, Banco de Portugal, SIBS, the company that runs Portugal's Multibanco network, and ANAFRE, the national association representing parish councils, which will be responsible for operating the terminals and keeping enough cash on hand for withdrawals.
Where it's rolling out
Beyond Tó, terminals are going live this week in several parishes in the Mértola municipality (Beja district), São Miguel do Pinheiro, São Pedro de Solis, São Sebastião dos Carros, Espírito Santo, and Santana de Cambas, followed by Coriscada, in Mêda (Guarda district). The pilot phase covers up to 30 parishes in total, chosen using a 2022 Banco de Portugal report that flagged the areas with the most critical gaps in ATM and banking coverage.
Bragança district tops that list: of its 236 parishes, only 25 have banking or payment services nearby. Nationally, the scale of the gap is larger than most people realise, 1,276 parishes, or 41% of the country's total, have no banking services within 5 to 15 kilometres, affecting an estimated 740,000 residents.
What happens after the pilot
The government frames the initiative as a step toward near-universal access to basic financial services, strengthening what officials describe as social and territorial cohesion in Portugal's interior. Not every parish will necessarily end up with a SmartPOS terminal, the pilot's results will help determine which locations might instead warrant a full ATM once the evaluation phase wraps up.
If you're considering a move to Portugal's interior for lower costs of living, it's worth checking a town's actual banking access before committing, proximity to a functioning ATM or bank branch isn't guaranteed even in otherwise well-connected areas.
For now, the program remains a pilot. But for residents of small parishes like Tó, the practical change is immediate: a service that used to mean a 36-kilometre round trip is now available a short walk from home.