 |
|
| Best Retail bank for technology innovation: CaixaBank |
|
| Also shortlisted: NEDBank and Bradesco |
Innovation is crucial for Spain’s banks. The restructuring of the country’s financial system has led to the number of banks falling dramatically. If banks want to compete within a smaller set of larger players, they need to attract customers. "Innovation is the only way to keep growing and improving and being ahead of the competition," says Benjami Puigdevall, head of electronic channels at CaixaBank. Putting technology at the forefront of growth, CaixaBank launches innovation after innovation. In the past 12 months, the bank has been at the leading edge of technology in retail banking across the world; it wins Euromoney’s inaugural award for best retail bank for technology innovation.
How CaixaBank approaches innovation is telling. The bank relies on innovative ideas coming out of every business group, and from clients and third parties. "We think you have to take into account the knowledge that your internal employees have from dealing with clients," says Puigdevall. "Then of course listening to the clients themselves and what they need, and finally engaging third parties who don’t come with that inside knowledge, but rather innovation from their views across the industry.