CaixaBank, recognised by Global Finance for its leadership in supporting businesses during the COVID-19 crisis

New award for the Socially Responsible Banking model

• The US magazine has presented CaixaBank with the award "Outstanding Achievement in Treasury Operations during the Covid pandemic in Western Europe 2021".
• From March 2020 to the end of the financial year, CaixaBank approved €83.7 billion in financing for the business sector in Spain, in addition to credit facilities through the Official Credit Institute (ICO), to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic on the country’s business sector. In addition, since the launch of the COVID-19 ICO credit facilities until 31 December 2020, CaixaBank granted 184,814 loans in Spain for €12.64 billion.
• The bank has received numerous awards for its social commitment in the face of the pandemic crisis, such as for its "Excellence in Leadership in Western Europe 2020" from Euromoney magazine, or "Global leader in the fight against the crisis 2020" from Global Finance.

CaixaBank, Spain’s leading retail bank, has received the award " Outstanding Achievement in Treasury Operations during the Covid pandemic in Western Europe 2021" from the US magazine Global Finance. The newly created award is part of the "Best Treasury & Cash Management Banks and Providers Awards", which each year recognise institutions that excel in treasury and cash management. This year, the Jury also wanted to give special recognition to those institutions that have played a crucial role in the economic recovery effort with financing and treasury solutions adapted to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CaixaBank stood out among European institutions for its promotion of financing for businesses and individuals, and its support for the sectors most affected by the pandemic.

From March 2020, when the state of emergency was declared in Spain, until the end of the financial year, CaixaBank approved €83.7 billion in financing for the business sector, in addition to the credit facilities through the Official Credit Institute (ICO), to alleviate the economic effects of the pandemic on the country’s productive fabric.

In addition, since the launch the COVID-19 ICO credit facilities until 31 December 2020, the entity granted 184,814 loans for €12.64 billion. Of the total amount disbursed, 76% was granted to self-employed workers and SMEs.

For its part, CaixaBank's social bank, MicroBank, financed projects with a social impact to the value of €900 million in 2020, representing an increase of 24% over the previous year. It is also the highest figure since the bank was founded in 2007 and coincides with MicroBank's commitment to become a leading social bank and with the initiative undertaken by the bank in a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The institution also offered discounts on equipment leasing and vehicle leasing quotas to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and as part of the measures to support small businesses, it approved the rebate on point-of-sale commissions and the launch of a new e-commerce technology solution to help small business owners boost online sales.

In July, CaixaBank also issued a €1 billion COVID-19 social bond in the form of senior preferred debt to mitigate the effects of the pandemic by financing SMEs and micro-enterprises located in the most disadvantaged regions of Spain.19. These regions are in the 30th percentile in terms of GDP per capita, i.e. with less than €19,665, and unemployment rates above 16.69%.

Meanwhile, through appropriate risk management, CaixaBank's NPL ratio fell to 3.3% in 2020 (-30 basis points compared to 2019) and the coverage ratio increased to 67% (+12 percentage points in the year after increasing the provisions). The cost of 12-month risk was placed at 0.75%.

As a result of these efforts, the company has received numerous awards for its social commitment when dealing with the crisis of the pandemic, including “Excellence in Leadership in Western Europe 2020” from the magazine Euromoney, and “Outstanding Crisis Leadership 2020 (Overall category)” from Global Finance.

CaixaBank's support measures when dealing with the Covid-19

Since the COVID-19 crisis began, under the slogan #WithYouMoreThanEver, CaixaBank enabled a broad package of measures with the aim of lessening the economic and social effects and, in this way, respond to the needs of the most affected groups, such as the advance payment of unemployment benefits and furlough benefits to 3.6 million people. These also include rent waivers on homes it owns to 4,800 families and its collaboration with the "la Caixa" Foundation through, among other initiatives, CaixaBank’s volunteer programme and the activity of CaixaBank's Social Action department, developed with a budget provided by the “la Caixa” Foundation.

All of this has been possible thanks to CaixaBank’s leadership in retail banking in Spain, where it is the only bank for nearly one of each four clients. Similarly, the company is leader in digital banking with 7 digital million clients, 67.6% of the total of CaixaBank, thanks to its steady commitment to digital transformation and to the use of new technologies to offer the best customer service anywhere through any channel.