Winner of Celent Model Bank of the Year, 2017, is CaixaBank from Spain. It has embraced customer-centricity for years and today is focused on using the latest technology across the institution to deepen customer relationships and improve the banking experience.

CaixaBank has long been customer-focused and attuned to the changing needs and attitudes of its customers. As nonbank entities (think Google, Amazon, and Facebook, among others) have raised customer expectations as to what they can expect from their service providers, the bank realized early on that it needed to adapt to meet these changing expectations. While many banks have a series of point initiatives designed to address very specific issues, CaixaBank recognized that the opportunity to inject a digital mindset throughout the bank was a key opportunity for differentiation, something particularly important as a host of new entrants pose the threat of commoditizing much of the banking industry’s core businesses.

Culture is extraordinarily important, and a willingness to experiment is a hallmark of CaixaBank.

CaixaBank recently launched a bold project, a mobile-only bank called imaginBank focused on millennial customers. Initial adoption is promising, although it is very early days. Integration with social media, Facebook in particular, is intriguing.

Digital is so important to the bank that it has its own digital entity called CaixaBank Digital Business. Most of its employees are nonbanker millennials.

"CaixaBank understands that being digital is more than having a series of discrete initiatives; being digital infuses everything that every banker does," commented Daniel Latimore, Senior Vice President of Celent's Banking practice. "The relentless focus on the customer leads CaixaBank to look to other industries for ideas on how to improve its customer experience. Its willingness to experiment with ideas that push the envelope differentiates it from many other banks."