Séries históricas Itaú Unibanco takes 5G technology to 100 bank branches in Brazil
October 10, 2022 – Itaú Unibanco has just taken another important step in expanding the use of 5G technology in the financial system. Having pioneered testing of the fifth generation of mobile telecom networks in bank branches since 2021, with experimental deployments in two units in São Paulo , the bank is now taking the latest in mobile connectivity to 100 branches in five Brazilian states. The units are located in SP, RJ, MG, PR, and GO (states of Brazil’s federation), and were chosen after studying the regions that already have the necessary infrastructure for the deployment of the new signal. “By seeing all the potential that 5G can bring to the evolution of the financial sector, we anticipated this trend last year, when we took the technology to some of our branches, still on an experimental basis. Since then, we have noticed substantial gains in data traffic speed in our internal systems, in addition to a significant improvement in connection availability, allowing us to test new possibilities for serving our clients,” says Fábio Napoli, Itaú Unibanco’s Technology Director. The 100 branches included in this first expansion phase are located in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Goiânia, and Aparecida de Goiânia. “As we increase the technological power of the physical units, we are able to bring together the agility of the digital environment with the convenience of face-to-face service. In this context, we remain focused on expanding this novelty to other locations in Brazil, as soon as the type of connection required is available in more places in the country,” adds Napoli. The new connection standard is increasingly showing signs of revolutionizing various consumer and business practices around the world. One of the main benefits of 5G is its connection speed, which allows advances from the current 120 megabits per second (Mbps) to up to 600 Mbps – meaning five times more capacity in data transmission. The technology also ensures an even more stable connection, avoiding the possibility of interruptions or bottlenecks, which are usually caused by failures relating to physical cabling. In other words, with the branches having more bandwidth and greater availability, their financial operations tend to become faster and more interactive, for both the employees and the customers who are being served.