CaixaBank, awarded as the ‘Best bank in Spain' by Euromoney for the second consecutive year

CaixaBank was also named the ‘Best Retail Bank for Technology Innovation'

• These awards recognise the bank's leadership in business and technology, as well as its solvency, strength, service quality and social engagement.
• The CaixaBank Chairman, Isidro Fainé, welcomed the award as "recognition for how we do things at CaixaBank: with prudence, foresight, professionalism and responsibility".
• Juan María Nin, the bank's CEO, said CaixaBank would "continue to uphold its financial strengths in terms of liquidity, solvency and asset quality".

CaixaBank, Spain's leading bank by market share, has been chosen as the ‘Best Bank in Spain 2013' for the second consecutive year by the magazine Euromoney. The British publication also named CaixaBank the ‘Best Retail Bank for Technology Innovation', making it the first bank to receive this global recognition, which it won in competition against banks from all over the world. Euromoney recognised the bank's leadership in business and technology, as well as its solvency, strength, service quality and social engagement.

Both awards were presented last night at a ceremony held in London, during which Euromoney Magazine praised CaixaBank's leadership in the Spanish market, following recent M&A operations, and its banking model, founded on service excellence and innovation. The bank has 13.8 million customers, 6,400 branches, 367 billion euro in assets and a penetration rate of 26.1% in retail banking, having gained market share.

Prudence and responsibility

CaixaBank's Chairman, Isidro Fainé, welcomed the award, declaring it "recognition for how we do things at CaixaBank: with prudence, foresight, professionalism and responsibility".

Fainé emphasized that the bank "must continue to adapt and reinvent to make sure that we uphold CaixaBank's core principles: service to people and economic and social development in the widest possible sense".
 
Meanwhile, Juan María Nin, the bank's CEO, said CaixaBank would "continue to uphold its financial strengths in terms of liquidity, solvency and asset quality".

"We are certain that CaixaBank will be one of the banks to emerge stronger from the current financial climate, and we are taking all the necessary steps to make sure that it is", added Nin.

Innovation at the service of people

The award for ‘Best Bank in Spain' 2013 is further recognition of CaixaBank's leadership in the Spanish market, this time coming in tandem with the award for Best Retail Bank for Technology Innovation. The honour further strengthens CaixaBank's position in the market. The bank is the leader in online banking with 8.8 million customers, in mobile banking with the most financial service users in Spain (3 million customers), and in electronic banking with 12 million cards issued.

CaixaBank understands that innovation is a means of providing better service quality to clients and the bank is committed to constant improvement. Technology innovation and financial prudence have proven themselves to be clear differentiating factors and essential for securing leadership in the financial industry going forward. All while not forgetting CaixaBank's strong social engagement and key founding values, which it shares with its majority shareholder, the "la Caixa" Group. This commitment is manifested in the "la Caixa" Foundation, the second largest foundation in Europe and fifth largest in the world, with an annual budget of €500mn.

The Euromoney award for technology innovation comes after CaixaBank was named Europe's best bank in mobile banking and the second best in the world behind Chase, according to the first Mobile Banking Functionality Rankings from the international consultancy firm Forrester.

The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are among the most prestigious in the financial industry. The Euromoney ‘Best Bank' award recognises outstanding institutions that demonstrate "leadership, innovation and momentum in the markets in which they excel". The ‘Best Retail Bank for Technology Innovation' award recognises "innovations in finance in the past 12 months that have radically changed the way a bank does business, either in its own right or with its clients".

Euromoney magazine is a financial publication based in London and is highly influential in capital markets. Founded in 1969, Euromoney is a world renowned banking and financial news publication. It has a readership of over 140,000, including leading global figures in finance, business and government.