Banco Popular

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico is a banking company that has been operating since the 1940s in Puerto Rico. Later on, the company began to add branches abroad. It is better known as Banco Popular, and sometimes, it is also known as BPPR.

The Banco Popular company was established by the Carrion family, which still owns the enterprise. During the 1970s, Banco Populars commercials were very popular in Puerto Rico's television: they presented a balding, middle aged man in a white t-shirt, announcing the company in a comic way.

During the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Banco Popular put a lot of emphasis on the company's public image. It was during the 1980s, after the Carrion patriarch's death, that current owner Richard Carrion took over. Carrion became an important figure in Puerto Rico's failed Olympic bid for the 2004 Olympics, and in 1989, a children's savings service was introduced, with a bear, Populoso, as the service's mascot. Prior to that, in 1983, Banco Popular was the sponsor of a piano album released by former Puerto Rico governor Luis A. Ferre.

During the 1990s, Banco Popular began to record live concerts with Puerto Rico's top singers as well as some international ones, to honor Puerto Rico's singing legends. The CDs and video tapes produced from these concerts would then be sold to the public, adding another advertising avenue for the company. Also during this time, future governor Sila Maria Calderon worked at Banco Popular.

Advertising wise, Banco Popular is one of the most well-seen Puerto Rican companies, giving away hundreds of t-shirts and hats every year to customers and potential customers. Banco Popular advertising items are quite common in the streets of Puerto Rico.

Its head office, located in the San Juan area known as Hato Rey, is located in the avenue known as La Milla de Oro, or The Golden Mile, which is known like that because of the abundance of bank headquarters in the area. Painted for decades in gray, the building has been repainted in gold, to reflect the name of the avenue where it is located at. Travellers who fly into Luis Munoz Marin International Airport often observe Banco Populars main headquarters from their airplane windows.

According to the company, they are the largest hispanic banking company in the United States. Among the company's divisions are Popular Leasing, Popular Mortgage and Popular Auto.