CaixaBank has been entrusted, together with the French bank Natixis, with completing the first pan-European instant transfer via the Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform. In this way, the institution headed by Chairman Jordi Gual and Chief Executive Officer Gonzalo Gortázar becomes the first bank to implement the new pan-European platform for money transfers between accounts, fostered by the European Central Bank.
Within the framework of the platform's launch event, CaixaBank has made a funds transfer from Spain to an account held at the French bank Natixis. The transaction has been completed in 3 seconds.
The launch event of the new platform TIPS has been held at the Bank of Italy headquarters in Rome and has featured its Governor, Ignazio Visco, and Yves Mersch, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank.
Subsequently, a discussion panel was held on the future of the European immediate payments moderated by Marc Bayle de Jessé, European Central Bank Director General of Market Infrastructure and Payments, and which featured Beatriz Kissler, General Manager of Operational Banking Services at CaixaBank Group; Fabrice Denèle, Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Interbank Relationships and Head of Customer Solutions at Natixis; Stefano Favale, Head of Global Transaction Banking at Intesa Sanpaolo; and Etienne Goosse, Director General of the EPC (European Payments Council).
Beatriz Kissler, General Manager of Operational Banking Services at CaixaBank Group, underlined her satisfaction at the success of the transaction and highlighted the bank's commitment to technological development: “At CaixaBank we are very proud to have been chosen by Banco de España and the European Central Bank to be part of the first instant transfer of the TIPS platform. It is an acknowledgement of our technological leadership and our efforts to become established as a pioneer in offering innovative products and services to guarantee the best experience for our customers, one of the goals that feature in the group's new 2019-2021 strategic plan”.
Instant payments are a product with a huge potential to set the pace of the banking sector's future transactions, which will enable banks to offer added value to customers.
In addition to being a member of the TIPS platform, CaixaBank is the founder and member of the instant transfer payment platform EBA Clearing, which came into effect last year.
Target Instant Payments Settlement Platform
The new Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) is a platform developed and operated by Eurosystem, which will enable instant cash transfers in euros to be processed and settled between the current accounts of the participating banks.
The new platform, subject to the European Payment Council's SCT Inst scheme, is applied at pan-European level and is intended for participants that have adopted the aforementioned scheme.
TIPS will enable instant payments of up to 15,000 euros to accounts all across Europe and the money will be received in under 10 seconds at any time any day of the year.
Its many advantages feature the fact that the payer can receive instant confirmation of the transfer and receipt of the money and the recipient can have the funds immediately.
CaixaBank, the financial institution leading innovation
CaixaBank is the leader in retail banking in Spain, with a 29.3% share among individual customers. The bank, headed by its Chairman, Jordi Gual, and led by CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, has around 16 million customers in Spain and Portugal, with 5,176 branches, the largest commercial network in the Iberian Peninsula.
CaixaBank’s business model relies heavily on technology and digitalisation, which continue to strengthen its leadership in digital banking, boasting the largest base of digital customers in Spain: market share of 32%; 6.1 million digital customers (58% of all CaixaBank customers in Spain) and 5.2 million customers in mobile banking. According to Comscore, the bank holds the highest absorption share in its market in the world. CaixaBank also has a card revenue market share of 23.2%.
CaixaBank has developed projects that have marked technological milestones in the sector, such as the first commercial roll out of contactless and mobile payment systems in Europe, the creation of the first contactless ATMs in the world, the launch of imaginBank, Spain's first mobile bank, and the development of the first artificial intelligence applications for customer services.
As a result of this strategy, CaixaBank has established itself among the best valued banks in the world due to the quality of its digital services and its commitment to digital transformation. In 2018, the bank received the Euromoney magazine award for the ‘Western Europe’s Best Digital Bank’, and it was honoured with an award by the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) for innovation in “Touchpoints and connected experiences” of its mobile banking app. CaixaBank has received an award from The Banker for its mobile application, ‘CaixaBank Now App’. The application was praised for being the “Best technology project in the Mobile category 2018” in the Technology Projects Awards.
Similarly, Global Finance magazine named CaixaBank as the “Best Consumer Digital Bank in Spain”, the “Most Innovative Consumer Digital Bank in Western Europe 2018”, and as having the “Best Mobile Banking App in Western Europe”. In addition, the Financial Times group’ magazine PWM, has named the bank as the “Best Private Bank for its use of technology”. Moreover, the magazine The Banker has chosen CaixaBank as “Bank of the Year 2018” in Spain.
