Products and services for immigrants

Transcription

1 Products and services for immigrants Media Relations July, 2007

2 Offer specifically for immigrants Wide range of products adapted to the particular needs of this group In the year 2002, la Caixa put into operation a programme designed for new residents in Spain with the objective of providing, apart from their traditional offer, specific financial products and services that respond to the needs of this sector of the population, in accordance with the financial contexts of their countries of origin. la Caixa has identified the most important groups of new residents in Spain in order to establish cooperation agreements with financial institutions in their countries of origin with the objective of meeting their specific needs in one of the services most frequently requested by foreign residents: money transfer to their families in the countries of origin. CaixaGiros: multi-channel transfer service True to their multi-channel, innovation strategy, la Caixa was the first institution to make available to their clients a multi-channel service for sending money abroad that makes it easy for the user to make this transaction. Immigrants can make money transfers by means of the La Caixa electronic banking service, Línea Abierta, on automated teller machines (ATMs), at the branches and by SMS. la Caixa included the SMS option toward the end of 2005 in order to add yet another feature to the extensive line of services and products they have been offering since beginning to establish cooperation agreements with different financial institutions in the most common countries of origin of foreigners residing in Spain. la Caixa handles more than 1,000,000 transfers a year, and though most of the transfers abroad are done through the institution s more than 5,200 branches, more than 30% go through self-service channels. How the transfer operation works la Caixa sends the transfer directly to the bank with which it has a cooperation agreement, and this bank, through its Call Center, notifies the beneficiary by phone of the transfer and its availability at the branch they choose.

3 In addition, depending on the bank, it is possible for the transfer to be made available in other forms: payment in cash, deposit in an account, transfer to another bank, credit on a prepaid card or home delivery. Possibility of sending personal messages along with the transfer With this system the person making the transfer can confirm from Spain the completion of the transaction free through the la Caixa Call Center. In addition, along with the transfer the sender can add a personal message to their family that the Call Center itself will pass on, by telephone, to the beneficiary. This service represents an important added value for immigrants who live and work outside their counties of origin. Sending money through Línea Abierta The CaixaGiros service is also available on the Internet through Línea Abierta, the la Caixa distance banking service. Doing transfers online is very simple. The user has only to register a beneficiary and type in the amount of the transfer, which takes place immediately. As an added service the system makes it possible to send a personal message to the beneficiary of the transfer. Cooperation agreements Extensive network of correspondent banks la Caixa has signed agreements to facilitate money transfers with the following financial institutions: -Banco Central de Ecuador -Banco Bolivariano (Ecuador) -Banco Solidario (Ecuador) -Banco Guayaquil (Ecuador) -Banco de Crédito (Peru) -Mibanco del Perú -Banco Caja Social (Colombia) -Bancolombia (Colombia) -Banco BHD de la República Dominicana -Banco Macro-Bansud de Argentina -Société Genérale de Banque au Senegal (SGBS) -Banco Sol de Bolivia -Banco de Crédito de Bolivia -Metropolitan Bank (Philippines) -Banca Comerciala Romana (Romania) -Romanian Bank for Development (Romania ) -Raifeissen Bank (Romania ) -Banco Itaú (Brazil) -SG Expressbank (Bulgaria) -Bulbank (Bulgaria) -Banque Centrale Populaire (Morocco) -Banco Popular de Ahorro (Cuba) -PrivatBank (Ukraine) -National Bank of Pakistan (Pakistan)

4 To begin with la Caixa signed an agreement with the Inter- American Development Bank (BID) to cooperate on projects that would contribute to promoting the economic and social development produced by money being sent from Spain by immigrants from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Agreement with the BID to reduce the cost of sending money The BID and la Caixa are committed to reducing the cost of sending money for Latin American immigrants residents in Spain. The objective of both institutions is to improve the economic and social conditions of immigrants and their families and to promote the use of banking facilities and business initiatives in these sectors of the population. The BID and la Caixa are also cooperating to produce financial and technical resources for Latin American financial institutions. ServiCuenta CaixaGiros In September, 2005, la Caixa initiated the ServiCuenta CaixaGiros, a product specifically designed for customers who generally require basic banking operations, but with intense activity in transfers. This product, with a monthly quota, includes, among other features, demand deposit, accident insurance and a VISA Electrón card or International Transfer card, which is especially indicated for sending money transfers in the easiest possible way, 24 hours a day, and offers the possibility of doing up to 6 transfers or international money orders free per year to the customer s country of origin. ServiCuenta Estrella For customers who do not need to send money to their country, la Caixa offers the ServiCuenta Estrella, which provides approximately the same features as the ServiCuenta CaixaGiros, except for transfers and accident insurance. This product can also be contracted by persons who do not yet have a residence permit in Spain. International Transfer card for sending money The first card that makes it possible to do international transfers from ATMs With the objective of making it easy for foreigners residing in Spain to send money, in November, 2002, la Caixa launched the International Transfer card, the first card to make it possible to make international money transfers using the more than 7,600 la Caixa ATMs. The new card can also be used to withdraw or deposit money in the customer s account.

5 For that purpose, since 2002 la Caixa automated teller machines include an exclusive menu that presents the two most innovative features: International Transfers and Deposits with your Transfer Management Company. The first option, operational since June, 2002, permits la Caixa customers to make a money transfer to a financial institution with which there is a cooperation agreement. Hipoteca básica The Hipoteca Básica or basic mortgage is another product specifically designed for immigrants. Its objective is to make it easier for new residents to buy a home. Libreta básica la Caixa also has the Libreta Básica, a savings passbook whose purpose is to facilitate access to fundamentally necessary banking services for persons without sufficient resources or in an economic and social situation that could be close to excluding them from banking services. The Libreta Básica provides, among other services, basic direct debits or the management of payments and income through transfer operations. In addition, customers with this passbook can request a free card to make withdrawals on ATMs and direct payments in commercial establishments. This passbook represents no expense to those who hold it, since it is not subject to any sort of maintenance or administrative commissions. Repatriation insurance SegurCaixa Repatriación is an insurance product specifically designed for immigrants with residence in Spain which is intended to deal with the difficulties facing members of the immigrant community who on their decease wish to be buried in their place of origin. Other products and services - Microcredits: la Caixa promotes granting microcredits to the immigrant community to favour their business initiatives. - Prepaid telephone cards: la Caixa offers, on its more than 7,600 automated teller machines, the possibility of obtaining prepaid Amigophone, Xtra Telecom and Telefónica cards for different amounts. To use them all one needs to do is to call the number that appears on the receipt and dial in the PIN that appears on it.

6 - Issue of multi-lingual contracts. For example, the multicontract and the contract for current accounts (German, Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, etc.). - On the la Caixa portal a specific site for new residents has been created, with general information on finances and on the products and services from la Caixa of special interest for these customers. Integrate XXI Portal Towards the end of 2004, la Caixa launched the Integrate XXI portal, a project of a clearly social nature that attempts to facilitate the integration and social progress of the immigrant community within Spanish society. Integrate XXI has the goal of improving use of existing resources for integration and social progress and stimulating the creation of networks of organisations, institutions and companies with a relationship to the world of integration on local, regional and national levels, as a means of bringing together and uniting forces that would help achieve the proposed objectives. Como en casa Project la Caixa actively works together with more than 100 associations for the integration of immigrants in our country s society. la Caixa organises informative sessions to help immigrants in the use of banking facilities and in social development. In 2006 alone about 600 of these informative sessions were held. Línea Abierta and multilingual ATMs Línea Abierta and the ATMs make it possible to choose between 19 different languages to do different operations As part of the la Caixa strategy of getting closer to the customer and providing service that adapts at any given moment to the needs and demand of their customers, la Caixa is also making an effort to include new languages in their electronic banking service, with the objective of allowing customers of other than Spanish nationality to be able to do their usual transactions in their native language. la Caixa currently offers customers the possibility of choosing to work in any of 19 different languages by means of Línea Abierta, their electronic banking service. The webpage makes it possible to make transactions in Greek, Dutch, Czech, Danish, Slovak, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Swedish, Chinese, German, Italian, Portuguese, French and English, as well as Spanish, Catalan, Basque and Galician. In conjunction with this, la Caixa offers a choice of 15 different languages on their automated teller machines. These languages are Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Basque, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Chinese, Rumanian, Polish and Arabic.

7 More than 750,000 customers are new residents One out of every three new customers is a new resident More than 750,000 immigrants are customers of la Caixa, which reflects the confidence these new residents, who represent one out of every three new customers, have placed in us. The most numerous group of customers who are new residents comes from Morocco, with more than 125,000, followed by Ecuador, with more than 100,000, and Colombia and China, both with about 60,000.