CaixaBank partners with Booking.com to enable customers of the Bank to make savings on their travel bookings

• CaixaBank customers can benefit from 4% cash back from the Bank on the total price of accommodation booked through the Booking.com platform.
• The alliance is in line with CaixaBank's open banking strategy, based on agreements with partners to offer value-added services and products to customers.

CaixaBank has formed a new partnership with leading online travel platform Booking.com to enable customers of the Bank to benefit from savings on their travel bookings. The agreement makes CaixaBank the first financial institution in Spain to include an accommodation booking experience in its home banking services.

CaixaBank customers can make Booking.com accommodation bookings from the CaixaBankNow website and the Bank will refund them 4% of the total booking amount.

Designed from a customer experience perspective within the framework of the new Global Customer Experience unit, the new partnership reflects the Bank's open banking strategy based on agreements with partners to provide value-added services and products to customers. These partnerships enable the Bank to reduce the time usually required to implement solutions, and to work with experts in the respective industries. They also improve the user experience and enhance the quality of the Bank's developments, which are more flexible, faster to implement and more adapted to the changing needs of customers.

Juan Alcaraz, Chief Business Officer at CaixaBank, which reports to the Global Customer Experience unit said, "for us it's important to work with the best partners. This partnership reinforces our commitment to continually improve our customers' experience and offer them the best services. Thanks to this agreement with Booking.com, we can provide our customers with an advantageous travel booking experience.”

"We’re constantly looking to forge new partnerships that enable us to reach new customers and help them connect with the travel experiences that they crave," said Ripsy Bandourian, Senior Director of Partnerships at Booking.com. "We’re very pleased to be working with CaixaBank and to empower more of their customers to find the stay that’s just right for them, whether that’s a chic apartment in Madrid, a holiday home in Porto or a boutique B&B in London".

The Bank is constantly reinforcing the user experience, and the decision to integrate travel finder technology with CaixaBankNow enables it to continue developing the range of value-added services offered to customers. CaixaBank is one of the leaders in the application of new technologies like big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

It uses big data to improve customer services and the efficiency of the Bank. Through the agreement with Booking.com, the Bank is using this system to personalise its services and offer customers access to the best accommodation based on their profile and needs.

The Bank's priorities for this year include optimising the customer experience, promoting the implementation of big data applications and identifying opportunities for new business models.

CaixaBank, a leader in innovation

CaixaBank has undertaken projects that have marked technological milestones in the sector, such as the first commercial implementation in Europe of contactless payment systems  and mobile payments, the creation of the world's first contactless cashpoints, the launch of imaginBank, the first mobile bank in Spain, and the implementation of the first artificial intelligence applications for customer services.

The Bank is constantly undertaking innovative initiatives focused on customer experience and improving the Bank's service and efficiency through the implementation of new technologies. This strategy has earned it a reputation as one of the world's most highly rated banks in terms of the quality of its digital services.

In 2018, the British magazine The Banker, of the Financial Times Group, has awarded the mobile application 'CaixaBank Now App' for its innovation and user experience. Also, the magazine Global Finance has awarded this year to CaixaBank as Best Bank in Spain and, in addition, Euromoney has chosen the entity, for the first time, as Best Digital Bank of Western Europe 2018.

These distinctions highlight the Bank's long commitment to technological innovation as one of its strategic pillars and an identifying trait of its culture. In fact, technological innovation is a focal point of the Bank's 2015-2018 Strategic Plan.