CaixaBank, named the ‘Best Bank in Spain 2012' by Euromoney

• The award recognises CaixaBank's solvency, commercial strength and powerful growth in recent years, all while staying true to its founding values.
• The Chairman of CaixaBank, Isidro Fainé, pointed out that this distinction "obliges us to continue our goal to demand excellence in terms of creating value for shareholders and providing the best possible services to customers".
• Juan María Nin, CEO of CaixaBank, emphasised that "CaixaBank must consolidate its current leading position in Spain via sustainable growth in all specialised market segments for individuals, private banking and businesses".

CaixaBank has been named the ‘Best Bank in Spain 2012' by the financial magazine Euromoney. The British magazine pointed to the bank's solvency and powerful growth over recent years, all while staying true to its founding values.

The Euromoney magazine prize, presented last night at an awards dinner in London, is also recognition of the commercial strength shown by CaixaBank, Spain's leading bank with more than 13 million customers, over 6,000 branches and assets of €342bn. Furthermore, CaixaBank expects to close the year with more than 800,000 shareholders.

CaixaBank, overseen by Chairman Isidro Fainé and CEO Juan María Nin, is also the leading operator in online banking, with 7.1 million customers; in mobile banking, with the most financial service users in Spain (2.5 million customers); and in e-banking, having issued 10.3 million cards.

Isidro Fainé was grateful for the recognition, stating that awards such as the Euromoney prize drive the bank to continue "to demand excellence in terms of creating value for shareholders and providing the best possible services to customers".

According to the CaixaBank Chairman, "the times have changed, but the principles behind our Group's approach remain firm, based on leadership, trust and community engagement, all of which give us a clear strategic orientation".

Juan María Nin, CEO of CaixaBank, pointed to "the need to consolidate CaixaBank's current leading position in Spain via sustainable growth in all specialised banking segments for individuals, private banking and business banking".

Nin added that "we must continue to engage with innovation, which is essential for providing our customers with the finest services", and that "only a long-term, coherent, sustainable and responsible business approach can guarantee the bank's success".

CaixaBank and its majority shareholder, the "la Caixa" Group, are firmly commitment to the community, a commitment that 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 world's most innovative bank

As well as the Euromoney award for the Best Bank in Spain 2012, CaixaBank was also recently recognised as the world's most innovative bank at the Global Banking Innovation Awards, organised by the Bank Administration Institute and Finacle.

Likewise, the international ATMs association, ATMIA, and Cards & Payments magazine named CaixaBank winner of the TrailBlazer Award for the best innovation of the year in the European financial sector, in recognition of CaixaBank's contactless ATM, the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Euromoney magazine, founded in 1969, is a prestigious international banking and financial news publication. It has a readership of over 140,000, including leading global figures in the worlds of finance, business and government.