CaixaBank has received the highest score in the "2016 European Mobile Banking Functionality Benchmark" report by Forrester Research (May 2016) that assesses the mobile banking applications of eleven of the largest retail banks in Europe. CaixaBank was also ranked second in Forrester's "2016 Global Mobile Banking Functionality Benchmark" report (July 2016) assessing the mobile apps of 46 international banks.
CaixaBank has obtained the highest score of all financial institutions in the European market for the second year in a row.
In the 2016 Europe report, Forrester stated that "CaixaBank remains ahead of its peers in Europe, excelling in providing both basic functionality, with its wide range of transactional and next-generation features, which include a digital wallet integrated into the main mobile banking app, as well as best-in-class marketing and sales functionality". In total, CaixaBank received 85 points out of 100, the highest score among all European banks evaluated.
In the global study, CaixaBank received the second highest score of 85 out 100 point.
Growth in customers, transactions and contracts arranged via mobile banking
According to data for the first half of 2016, CaixaBank had more than 3 million active mobile banking customers per month. It has the largest number of active customers of all mobile banking services in Spain, with a growth of 16% compared to 2015.
With regard to the number of transactions, during the first six months of the year, CaixaBank recorded more than 4.4 million movements and transactions a day on its mobile channel, 55% more than during the same period in 2015. Over the first semester, 800 transactions were made using CaixaBank's mobile services.
One out of every five transactions in CaixaBank is made using mobile banking, which is now the second-most popular channel among the bank's customers, with 16% of total transactions, second only to online services. Every minute, more than 3,000 transactions are made at CaixaBank via mobile banking. CaixaBank customers connect to the Línea Abierta mobile service on average 14 times a month, making an average of 44 transactions per person.
In terms of retail growth, the number of financial products contracted directly by customers using mobile banking is increasing. According to June figures, 25% of pre-approved personal loans (Click&Go) are arranged through the mobile channel, in addition to 15% of securities' purchases and sales, and close to 19% of transfers.
The most popular options are account and card statements, transfers and securities' transactions. Loans, cards and investment funds are the products most commonly contracted using mobile banking. On the other hand, one out of every five customers use mobile banking to access "My Finances", a digital service for managing personal and household finances and expenditure.
Mobile services
Mobile services offered include financial applications, mobile portals and immediate alerts, which customers can set according to their preferences. Available services range from basic information such as payroll and pension deposits, through to more sophisticated services such as monitoring the markets or stock market investments.
CaixaBank's mobile banking services are available for a wide variety of environments, beyond phones and tablets. CaixaBank currently has applications for wearable devices and smart cars (Ford SYNC vehicles with an AppLink system). All applications are available for customers at the CaixaMóvil Store, the first mobile banking app store created by a financial entity.
CaixaBank has also launched imaginBank, the first mobile-onlybank in Spain and the first in the world that operates exclusively through mobile and social network apps.
CaixaBank, leader in innovation
CaixaBank considers innovation to be a strategic goal and a distinguishing trait in its culture. Becoming the leader in digital banking is an objective that the Group has set in its 2015-2018 Strategic Plan.
The recognition by Forrester comes on top of other international awards for innovation given by specialist institutions, such as the world association of retail banks EFMA, the Global Banking Innovation Awards, conferred by the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) and Finacle, and leading financial publications.
In August 2016, CaixaBank received the award for the Best Technological Project in the World for imaginBank by The Banker. Since its launch in January 2016, imaginBank has become one of the most popular financial applications downloaded in Spain, from both Google Market for Android and Apple's App Store, with a total of over 125,000 downloads and 576,000 transactions.
