CaixaBank was awarded by the British magazine The Banker (of the Financial Times Group) and by the US publication Global Finance for its digitalisation process and commitment to innovation. In the case of The Banker, the Bank received the award for the Best Technological Project of the Year under the category of Artificial Intelligence for the launch of the chatbot of imaginBank, the mobile only bank of CaixaBank for millennials. This chatbot is a messaging software available through imaginBank’s Facebook page or through Facebook Messenger, whereby the Bank’s customers can find out about exclusive offers and discounts. The British publication praised the innovative spirit of this project, which uses artificial intelligence to speak with users in natural language, in a clear and friendly manner, and even using emoticons, and to offer them those promotions that are best adapted to their interests and place of residence.
Accordingly, Global Finance recognised CaixaBank as Best Consumer Digital Bank in Spain for its commitment to digitalisation in order to offer customers better quality of service. The US magazine also recognised the Bank as the best bank in Western Europe in another four categories: Best in Mobile Banking, Best in Social Media, Best Integrated Consumer Bank Site and Best Bill Payment & Presentment.
Jordi Gual, the Chairman of CaixaBank, considers these awards to be a “new recognition of our digital strategy, one of the pillars of the 2015-2018 Strategic Plan, and to the commitment to innovation that has always formed part of CaixaBank’s DNA to use technological advances to the benefit of our customers”.
Accordingly, Gonzalo Gortázar, the CEO of CaixaBank, added that “the transformation that we are carrying out affects our internal processes, to make them more efficient and digital; the way in which we communicate with our customers, through more suitable and convenient channels; and the content of the services that we offer”.
imaginBank’s chatbot, the first in the Spanish financial sector
The chatbot launched by imaginBank is the first service with these characteristics in the Spanish banking sector. In order to interact with the chatbot, users must send a private message through Facebook or Facebook Messenger. The robot automatically welcomes the user and guides him or her through the various options to access more than 200 proposals that form part of imaginBank’s discount programme for shopping and leisure activities. Customers of imaginBank are therefore able to take advantage of various special promotions for trips, hotels, restaurants, fashion or music, and keep up to date on new developments thanks to configurable alerts.
Artificial intelligence was implemented in order to offer better service to customers, since it helps filter promotions and interpret users’ searches, converting speech and written messages into entries that the chatbot can answer. The creation of this chatbot follows the commitment of applying the latest innovative trends to imaginBank, the mobile only bank of CaixaBank, and relies on Watson, an artificial intelligence system developed by IBM.
CaixaBank, leader in innovation worldwide
CaixaBank is considered a leader in innovation worldwide, with 5.5 million online banking customers, of which 3.9 million perform transactions using a mobile phone. The Bank is a leader in electronic banking, with 15,6 million cards in circulation and a market share by turnover of 23.3%. CaixaBank was one of the first banks in the world to become involved in the commercial implementation of contactless payment systems and mobile payment technology, which led it to receive several international awards.
Accordingly, imaginBank is Spain’s first mobile only bank, which operates solely on the basis of mobile apps and social networks. Its launch represented a step forward in CaixaBank’s innovation strategy, recognised internationally as one of the leading banks in applying new technologies to financial services.
International acknowledgments
These acknowledgments of The Banker and Global Finance were received in April after CaixaBank was awarded the Model Bank 2017 award by the US consulting company Celent, granted to recognise its digital transformation strategy. In 2016, the Bank received the Global Innovator 2016 award from Efma and Accenture, to recognise the Bank as having the best innovation strategy, and was also recognised by The Banker as having the World’s Best Technology Project following the launch of imaginBank.
