# BROU (Banco República Uruguay)

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/brou-uruguay
> research date 2026-05-30 · extracted at 2026-10-07
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [BROU — official](https://www.brou.com.uy/)

## Overview

**BROU (Banco República Uruguay)** is **Uruguay's largest commercial bank by assets + Uruguay's largest state-owned bank** + **Uruguayan government Ministry of Economy and Finance fully owned** + **~3M+ customers - majority of Uruguayan adult population** + **~40% Uruguayan banking market share** <sup>[1][1], [Uruguay report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/UY)</sup>.

## History

**Aug 14 1896 — Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay BROU founded** distinctive Uruguayan state banking heritage.

**2014 — BROU Mobile Banking app launch** distinctive Uruguayan mobile banking strategy.

## Ownership & operator

**Operating entity**: **Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay (BROU)** (Uruguay's largest commercial bank by assets + Uruguay's largest state-owned bank; Uruguayan government fully owned).

**Major shareholders**: **Uruguayan government Ministry of Economy and Finance fully owned + Uruguayan state banking heritage**.

**Regulators**: **BCU (Banco Central del Uruguay)**.

## Technical integration

BROU Mobile Banking app (iOS + Android; ~3M+ customers) + brou.com.uy online + BROU branch network across Uruguay + BROU Visa + Mastercard cards; UY IBAN + BROU Mobile Pay (BROU-anchored mobile P2P payments).

## Implementations & partners

**Major Uruguayan banking + payments competitors**: BBVA Uruguay (BBVA Uruguay; BBVA Spanish parent subsidiary) + [Banco Itaú Uruguay](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/banco-itau-uruguay) (Itaú Uruguay; Itaú Unibanco Brazilian parent subsidiary) + [Santander Uruguay](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/banco-santander-uruguay) (Santander Uruguay; Banco Santander Spanish parent subsidiary) + Scotiabank Uruguay (Scotiabank Uruguay; Bank of Nova Scotia Canadian parent subsidiary) + Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay (Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay BHU Uruguayan state-owned housing bank) + Paganza (Paganza Uruguayan bill payment fintech).

**Regulator**: BCU.

## Status

**Active, Uruguay's largest commercial bank by assets + Uruguay's largest state-owned bank + Uruguayan government Ministry of Economy and Finance fully owned + ~3M+ customers + ~40% Uruguayan banking market share** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.brou.com.uy/ "BROU — official"
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_de_la_Rep%C3%BAblica_Oriental_del_Uruguay "Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay — Wikipedia"
[uy-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/UY

- [1] [BROU — official][1]
- [2] [Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay — Wikipedia][2]
- <sup>[Uruguay report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/UY)</sup> In-corpus: `reports/countries/UY-uruguay.md`

## Source

Biography extracted from [brou-uruguay.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/brou-uruguay). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.