From the customer’s point of view, the requirements that an entity must meet to earn their trust start from purely economic aspects, such as solvency and profitability, and extend to those related to customer service, the catalog of products and services. or the account access platform. . But what do professionals in the banking and financial sector think? Has your perspective changed after the financial and health crises? The experts agree: the new criteria on the rise are social responsibility, the degree of digitalization and environmental commitment.
Precisely, to know the paths followed by good banking practices, a good indicator is the Euromoney magazine, publication specializing in business, markets and finance which annually delivers its Excellence Award since 1992. “Pioneers of the genre” —according to the publication itself—the awards are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary with “a record number of candidates vying for the more than 50 prizes awarded”, underlines the organization. Among the winners of this 2022 is the CaixaBank group, with three awards of the highest level, divided between the Spanish firm and its Portuguese brand.
Of the entity, they affirm that the jury chose CaixaBank as Best bank in Spain 2022 there Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility in Western Europe 2022 for “its leadership in the Iberian Peninsula, its excellence in customer service and innovation”, as well as for “its commitment to environmental, social and corporate governance sustainability”.
Currently, it has a 24% share of the Spanish market in terms of household and business loans, while this figure rises to 25.2% when it comes to deposits. For José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, President of CaixaBank, the Awards for Excellence are “recognition of the way the group practices banking, with a very inclusive model, very close to families and businesses, as well as to the society we serve” . And they are particularly important in a year where, in addition to carrying out an integration process of enormous depth, we have reinforced our commitment to innovation and sustainability,” he underlines.
Over the past decade, the entity has received Euromoney’s highest national honor seven times and the continental corporate responsibility award three times. From the firm they assure that part of this success comes from “the organizational and technological integration of the group after its merger with Bankia, the strengthening of the senior customer service program and the growth of sustainable financing through innovative formulas”, specify -they. In this sense, Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank, admits that “these international awards are, without a doubt, the result of the great commitment and hard work of our teams, and they give us new energy to continue advancing in the pillars of the bank, focused on the growth of the business, the evolution of the service model to adapt it as much as possible to the preferences of the customers, and the consolidation of the bank as a reference financial group in terms of sustainability in Europe “.
Society and the environment matter
In terms of corporate responsibility, CaixaBank began 2022 with the issuance of a new social bond on the wholesale market for an amount of 1,000 million euros “with the aim of financing activities and projects that contribute to combat poverty, promote education and well-being, in addition to promoting economic and social development in the most disadvantaged areas of Spain”, they specify from the company. Regarding sustainable financing, the entity mobilized a total of 31,375 million euros in 2022, i.e. 150% more than the previous year.
In terms of sustainable development, the group’s initiatives have focused on “promoting the energy transition between companies and society as a whole”, through, among other things, “the development of solutions for individuals, by putting the emphasis on sustainable mobility and habitat, as well as in the promotion of investments covered by the so-called Environmental, Social and Good Governance (ESG) criteria”, they qualify. Strategic Plan 2022-2024, Presented in May, CaixaBank has set itself the objective of “mobilizing 64,000 million euros in sustainable financing, through the promotion of various initiatives focused on product offering, ESG advice, awareness and training.
For its part, the Portuguese entity BPI, of the CaixaBank group, has been recognized by Euromoney as Best Bank in Portugal 2022, due to “its good evolution and the quality of the teams that make it up, which is reflected in the trust of the clients”, as highlighted by João Pedro Oliveira e Costa, CEO of the entity. Currently, BPI is the fourth bank in the neighboring country, with more than 40,000 million euros in assets: “We want to maintain this leading position and consolidate ourselves as a reference in terms of sustainability, as we already are in the digital banking or in financial practices. , solid and indicators of risk and social commitment”, concludes Oliveira e Costa.