Banestes has always been a pioneering, modern and innovative company. Over the past decade, these characteristics have taken on even greater prominence, supporting the company's rapid growth.

Exceptional growth driven by unique products and cutting-edge technology has strengthened Banestes position in Brazil's financial industry. Some noteworthy examples of this from past years are cited below:

• 1972 - The creation of Fundação Banestes de Seguridade Social (Baneses), a pioneer in the private pension segment in Espírito Santo state and one of Brazil's oldest private pension companies. Today Baneses is one of the largest pension funds in the state.
• 1987 - First bank in Brazil to use labor of deaf-mutes in the assembly of checkbooks.
• 1990 - With the adoption of the new economic plan, called “Collor plan”, Banestes was the first bank to provide the balances converted to its customers in the new currency, from Cruzado Novo to Cruzeiro.
• 1997 - Rest-Renda Banestes was created to offer advances on income tax refunds, with the Bank among the first to offer this type of credit, which targets clients that have overdraft facilities.
• 1998 - First bank to use images of the State sights in the checkbooks.
• 1999 - Banestes launched Internet Banking, become the first Latin American bank to provide digital certificates to customers.
• 2002 - First bank to perform messaging via the new Brazilian Payment System (SPB). The first day of operation of the new SPB, BANESTES showed agility and took the lead in carrying out financial transactions. The Bank was the first in the country to make a rediscount associated with the Payments System. With the implementation of the new SPB, Banestes customers now have the option to effect transfers to other financial institutions real-time, including through the Internet Banking. The shipments of financial resources in the SPB are formalized by means of electronic messages transmitted exclusively by through the Network of National Financial System (RSFN), and are standardized, noting specific procedures for security (encryption and digital certificate, etc.).
• 2004 - First company in the State to use VOIP technology (Voice over Internet Protocol), which is a technology that allows voice over IP, making it possible to perform calls (with quality) over the internet. In the Banestes case, most units were interconnected, allowing connections between branches throughout the State without the costs of telephony.
• 2007 - Banestes launched yet another unprecedented initiative, installing in the most important industrial complex in Espírito Santo state the first bank branch (CIVIT) specializing in services to companies, which coincided with the bank's 70th anniversary;
• 2008 - a credit and debit card with a Banestes brand, Cartão Banescard, was launched. This revolutionary initiative made the institution the first commercial bank in Brazil to offer an own-brand card with both debit and credit functions.
  

Vanguard Technology

Banestes' use of digital technology traces a history marked by pioneerism and constant evolution that began in 1986, with the installation of the Data Processing Center (DPC) to replace the services provided until then by the Information and Communication Technology Institute of Espírito Santo state. The bank branches, which previously manually reconciled clients' information on printed reports, began to use the new electronic system. In 1988, in step with the trend of automated services, Banestes began to make available to clients terminals that printed account statements. In 1992, the first ATMs for cash withdrawals were installed. Banking automation, with the computerization of teller services and backoffice operations, occurred at around the same time. In 1995, companies began to enjoy more convenient banking transactions with the installation of the Home Office Banking system.

In 1999, Banestes launched Internet Banking services, become the first Latin American bank to provide digital certificates to customers. "These certificates work like digital identification documents. There has never been any case of fraud. The system has even served as a national case study," said Genilson Gomes Corradi, the bank's former chief information officer. The year 2002 was marked by the expansion of electronic channels and the implementation of new Internet Banking services and ATM services. Banestes also installed its in-house Call Center. In 2004, the Bank began to focus on managing information technology, with a focus on IT governance, seeking to enhance performance, increase customer satisfaction and improve transparency.

In 2008, Banestes inaugurated its "contingency site," a major project initiated in 2005 that created an all new data processing center providing high levels of availability for the Bank's services. The project, which marks an important milestone in the evolution of the Bank's information technology, was implemented in partnership with Unisys and required investment of more than R$10 million.

Many services and technologies were installed as a result of these investments, including the correspondent banks, personal loans backed by direct deduction from benefit payrolls and credit offered through electronic channels.