CaixaBank launches a new commercial strategy to create firmer relations with merchants, the self-employed, professionals and micro-businesses

The new CaixaNegocios programme is aimed at a segment of 1.3 million customers and hopes to attract 200,000 new clients

• CaixaNegocios seeks to cater to the emerging needs of the segment, with 2,600 specialist managers equipped with mobile devices visiting customers at their own businesses.
• Juan Antonio Alcaraz, CaixaBank's Business General Manager, said "this new model for customer relations, supported by technological innovation, will further strengthen the bank's leading position in retail banking".

CaixaBank has launched a new model for relations with merchants, the self-employed, professionals and micro-businesses, seeking to work closely with these customers and consolidate the position of CaixaBank, overseen by Chairman Isidro Fainé and CEO Juan María Nin, as the leader in innovation and service quality for this banking segment.

The new CaixaNegocios programme is aimed at merchants, the self-employed, professionals, micro-businesses and the agricultural sector with turnover of up to one million euro. CaixaBank currently has 1.3 million customers in this segment, representing a penetration rate of 30%. This new initiative seeks to create closer ties with business customers while also attracting 200,000 new clients.

Under this new model, based on close customer relations and innovation, 2,600 specialist CaixaBank managers, 900 of which will be exclusively dedicated to the segment, will travel to each customer's business equipped with tablets and smartphones to provide consultancy and help them contract products and services via said devices.

As well as these specialist managers, the remaining branches will have one person specialising in the Business segment, who can be contacted via Línea Abierta, the bank's online banking service, anytime and anywhere.

This new model will strengthen the bank's commitment to innovation and supporting entrepreneurship.

Working more closely with businesses and the self-employed

Juan Antonio Alcaraz, Business General Manager at CaixaBank, said this new concept for customer relations "ensures that we will work more closely than ever with merchants, the self-employed, professionals and micro-businesses, thus improving services based on proximity, quality and excellence".

He added "this new model for relations, supported by technological innovation, will boost the bank's leading position in retail banking".

The launch will come with new products and services, such as the Business Account, which includes account maintenance and administration, debit cards for holders and beneficiaries, 24-hour deposit cards, transfers and self-service cheques when users perform frequent transactions via electronic channels.

CaixaBank, leader in innovation and new technologies in the financial sector

CaixaBank is the leading Spanish bank in the world of innovation. It has 4 million mobile service customers and 9 million online banking customers. The bank is also the market leader in electronic banking with over 12.5 million cards in circulation, more than 3 million of which are contactless-ready. It also has Spain's largest ATM network, with close to 10,000 machines.

CaixaBank has won numerous awards for its commitment to new technologies, including the award for World's Most Innovative Bank at the 2013 Global Banking Innovation Awards, run by the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) and Finacle, the "The Best Bank in Spain 2013" award from "The Banker", and the awards for "Best Bank in Spain 2013" and "World's Best Bank for Technology Innovation" from Euromoney magazine. CaixaBank was the first bank worldwide to win this recognition for excellence in innovation, competing against banks from all over the world.