Best retail banking technology innovation:
CaixaBank
It is hard to find a bank more innovative than CaixaBank. Which other bank has an application for Google Glass or for a smart watch, or has a Facebook app that allows users to view their bank accounts on the social network? That may sound gimmicky for now, but at one time so did having apps for banking. But CaixaBank now has more than 70 apps available, with 3 million downloads a year. It has the largest market share of tap-and-go payments in Spain – covering 80% of that market – and the largest market share in online users with some 4 million users. Whatever digital channel retail banking clients need, CaixaBank has made sure it is at the top of its game.
In 2013, it processed more than 5.8 billion transactions (up 20% on the previous year) and more than 90% of those were processed on e-channels – 52% were through internet and mobile devices. Antonio Massanell, CaixaBank managing director for technology and resources, says: “The change is coming not only by the technology but essentially by new user experience when using financial services. The new paradigm is that through every device one can access all the services. In today’s environment, the relationship between customer and financial institution must necessarily be multichannel: as well as in-branch customer service there must be ATMs, online trading, mobile services, new tablet-style devices, interactive television and, of course, social media. Web 2.0 offers many innovation opportunities for relationships between financial institutions and customers.”
| One clear example [of social media] is the creation of our private online communities, exclusive for customers. For instance, our CaixaEmpresa Community enables small businesses and freelance workers to contact each other for work purposes Antonio Massanell |
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Caixa’s online banking system, Linea Abierta, added two new products last year. ReciBox simplifies bill payments through direct debits, notifying customers when bills will be deducted and allowing them to view all their utilities, phone and rent bills in one place. Bolsa Abierta is the second service, which is the first social network in Spain designed for investors. It has 1 million users.
StockTactics, the latest development in Bolsa Abierta launched in November last year. It allows customers to set up a real or simulated portfolio of stocks and follow it under market conditions. Users can see the profiles of other investors, share opinions and see the most profitable and popular portfolios in an online community.
All the ideas came from CaixaBank’s customers via its Inspiranos platform, which allows them to submit ideas for new products, services or changes to existing products and services in an open forum. Customers can vote on the ideas before they are referred to the managerial team. It is a unique offering and one certain to become a norm in retail banking as consumers in all industries expect to be able to collaborate and feed into the brands in which they are invested.
Customers were also involved in the overhaul last year of Linea Abierta for touch-screen smartphones. More than 250 customers helped with mobility experts and bloggers in the design process.
Restyling the network
Suggestions from customers also resulted in a restyling of the bank’s network of almost 10,000 ATMs last year. Inspired by tablet computers, customers can browse based on their most common transactions. In addition, the network is moving towards contactless technology by card or mobile telephone. Last year 594 million transactions were made over the network.
CaixaBank has also teamed up with Oracle to develop a unified data repository to enable the bank to create predictive models, cross-sell and create tailor-made offers to customers based on their buying habits and finances.
Social media is one area very few banks succeed in, but Caixa has used it to its advantage. Says Massanell: “Social media is regarded as a new channel through which to deliver value to customers. One clear example is the creation of our private online communities, exclusive for customers. For instance, our CaixaEmpresa Community, a private community for business customers, enables small businesses and freelance workers to contact each other for work purposes.”
In May this year, CaixaBank launched a Facebook application that allows users to view their bank accounts and perform transactions via the social network. This is the first platform of its kind from a European bank, allowing customers to check account balances, make micro-donations and contract personalised card services.
Finally comes CaixaBank’s latest move: banking on wearable devices. The service developed for SmartWatch 2 from Sony allows bank users to follow the stock markets via their watches. More detailed information, by selecting the stock on the SmartWatch screen, will automatically open the CaixaBank stock market application. For Google Glass the bank developed an application that includes a branch finder based on augmented reality, and a currency conversion facility, which allows users to choose any input and output currencies in the world. The application will show Google Glass users where the nearest branch is, as well as its contact details.
