La Caixa
Encyclopedia
La Caixa formally Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona
, is currently Europe
’s leading savings bank
and Spain
's third largest financial institution, with a network of over 5,500 branches, more than 8,100 ATMs
, a workforce in excess of 27,000 and more than 10.7 million customers.
The La Caixa Group manages a total bank turnover of over 411,522 million Euros (September 2008), with total customer resources in excess of 238,404 million Euros.
Similarly, the Group has a portfolio of industrial interests in companies mainly in the infrastructure, energy and communications sectors. In November 2006, the La Caixa Board of Directors approved the company portfolio of holdings' listing on the stock market, through the Criteria CaixaCorp company, which came into effect on October 10, 2007.
January 29, 2008 saw the inclusion of Criteria CaixaCorp
in the IBEX 35
.
On the 30 of June 2011, all the banking business of La Caixa, including consumer banking, private banking and asset management, was transferred to CaixaBank. All the branch offices now use CaixaBank name while keeping the logo of La Caixa.
CaixaBank brings together the banking business of La Caixa, the insurance business and the participations in international banks and in Telefónica and Repsol. The bank is founded with a leadership position in the Spanish financial and insurance sector, and additionally diversified in with other complementary activities. It also has some 5,200 branches, the lowest ratio of arrears among the large Spanish financial groups, the best coverage and the best position of capital.
to create a corporate identity that would be easily identifiable and that customers could make their own. From the proposals submitted, it was decided to commission the Catalan artist Joan Miró
to create a tapestry, from which an emblematic element could be isolated. In 1980, a logo was chosen: a star and two coloured shapes (a child depositing a coin in a piggy-bank), which has become the renowned symbol of the institution. The original tapestry is on display in the foyer of the La Caixa headquarters in Barcelona.
in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. This foundation makes major investments in such public welfare causes as care of the aged and infants, curing Alzheimer's, technologically advanced classrooms, old-age centers and the like.
Through its Social Programme, La Caixa funds social, environmental and scientific, cultural and research programmes. The La Caixa Foundation is Spain’s leading private foundation, the second in Europe and the fifth in the world in terms of budgetary volume (550 million Euro for 2008), according to data from the European Foundation.
In 2007, the La Caixa Social Programme undertook specific programmes to combat poverty and social exclusion (the CaixaProinfancia programme and the Incorpora employment integration programme) and the creation of MicroBank, a social bank whose primary activity is to award social and financial micro-credits to people who are at risk from social or financial exclusion and to groups with limited resources. It also promotes access to rental apartments to sectors of the population who have difficulty in accessing the property market and care programmes focused on dependency, for individuals in advanced stages of illness, child vaccination and international cooperation.
The La Caixa Social Programme also provides resources for education and research programmes, environmental protection and the dissemination of culture through its centres, such as the recently opened CaixaForum Madrid.
In 2005, the bank received the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya for these efforts.
, Poland and Bucharest
, Romania
), and 10 representative offices in Germany, Belgium, China, France, Italy, Morocco
, Portugal and the United Kingdom. La Caixa also has over 8,011 ATMs, through which more than 500 million transactions were made in 2007. All ATMs are fitted with keyboards adapted to the Braille
system and allow the letter size used on the screens to be increased. Of these, 2,491 include a voice system for people with visual impairment.
La Caixa also has an online banking service (Línea Abierta) which offers more than 700 consultations and transactions (including account management, transfers, direct debits, arranging deposits, loans and mortgages, pension plans, investment funds) and now has over 2.5 million operating customers a month (September 2008), both private individuals and companies. La Caixa's online bank is the leading one of its kind in Europe according to the AQMetrix (Private Banking Division – autumn 2008). The Línea Abierta Móvil service allows customers to consult statements and account and credit card movements, make transfers, consult listings, buy and sell securities and receive notifications via SMS
.
In addition, ServiCaixa leads the Spanish market in sales of cinema, theatre, music and sports events tickets via e-channels (7.7 million advance sales in 2007).
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, is currently Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
’s leading savings bank
Savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits. It may also perform some other functions.In Europe, savings banks originated in the 19th or sometimes even the 18th century. Their original objective was to provide easily accessible savings products to...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's third largest financial institution, with a network of over 5,500 branches, more than 8,100 ATMs
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
, a workforce in excess of 27,000 and more than 10.7 million customers.
History
Today's La Caixa is the result of the July 27, 1990 merger between the Caja de Pensiones para la Vejez y de Ahorros de Cataluña y Baleares, founded in 1904, and the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Barcelona, founded in 1844. From the beginning, La Caixa focused on savings for families and offering its customers security in their old age, when this type of social provision did not yet exist in Spain. Owing to its origins, it is a financial institution, albeit not for profit and charitable and social in nature, with a private board of trustees, independent of any other company or institution.The La Caixa Group manages a total bank turnover of over 411,522 million Euros (September 2008), with total customer resources in excess of 238,404 million Euros.
Similarly, the Group has a portfolio of industrial interests in companies mainly in the infrastructure, energy and communications sectors. In November 2006, the La Caixa Board of Directors approved the company portfolio of holdings' listing on the stock market, through the Criteria CaixaCorp company, which came into effect on October 10, 2007.
January 29, 2008 saw the inclusion of Criteria CaixaCorp
Criteria CaixaCorp
Caixabank, S.A. is a financial services company, controlled with an 81% stake by Spanish savings bank La Caixa...
in the IBEX 35
IBEX 35
The IBEX 35 is the benchmark stock market index of the Bolsa de Madrid, Spain's principal stock exchange. Initiated in 1992, the index is administered and calculated by Sociedad de Bolsas, a subsidiary of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles , the company which runs Spain's securities markets...
.
Reorganisation
On the 27 of January 2011, the Board of Directors of La Caixa announced the reorganisation of the Group, by virtue of which La Caixa transfers its banking business to Criteria CaixaCorp, which becomes a banking group called CaixaBank, and Criteria CaixaCorp transfers part of its industrial participations to a new unquoted entity that depends on La Caixa.On the 30 of June 2011, all the banking business of La Caixa, including consumer banking, private banking and asset management, was transferred to CaixaBank. All the branch offices now use CaixaBank name while keeping the logo of La Caixa.
CaixaBank brings together the banking business of La Caixa, the insurance business and the participations in international banks and in Telefónica and Repsol. The bank is founded with a leadership position in the Spanish financial and insurance sector, and additionally diversified in with other complementary activities. It also has some 5,200 branches, the lowest ratio of arrears among the large Spanish financial groups, the best coverage and the best position of capital.
Logo
In the late 1970s, La Caixa asked Landor & AssociatesLandor Associates
Landor Associates is a San Francisco-based brand and creative design consultancy. Founded by Walter Landor and his wife Josephine in 1941, Landor pioneered many of the research, design and consulting methodologies that are now standard in the branding industry.-Operations:Landor offers brand...
to create a corporate identity that would be easily identifiable and that customers could make their own. From the proposals submitted, it was decided to commission the Catalan artist Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
to create a tapestry, from which an emblematic element could be isolated. In 1980, a logo was chosen: a star and two coloured shapes (a child depositing a coin in a piggy-bank), which has become the renowned symbol of the institution. The original tapestry is on display in the foyer of the La Caixa headquarters in Barcelona.
Corporate social responsibility
Due to its nonprofit status, the bank controls the largest charitable foundationFoundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. This foundation makes major investments in such public welfare causes as care of the aged and infants, curing Alzheimer's, technologically advanced classrooms, old-age centers and the like.
Through its Social Programme, La Caixa funds social, environmental and scientific, cultural and research programmes. The La Caixa Foundation is Spain’s leading private foundation, the second in Europe and the fifth in the world in terms of budgetary volume (550 million Euro for 2008), according to data from the European Foundation.
In 2007, the La Caixa Social Programme undertook specific programmes to combat poverty and social exclusion (the CaixaProinfancia programme and the Incorpora employment integration programme) and the creation of MicroBank, a social bank whose primary activity is to award social and financial micro-credits to people who are at risk from social or financial exclusion and to groups with limited resources. It also promotes access to rental apartments to sectors of the population who have difficulty in accessing the property market and care programmes focused on dependency, for individuals in advanced stages of illness, child vaccination and international cooperation.
The La Caixa Social Programme also provides resources for education and research programmes, environmental protection and the dissemination of culture through its centres, such as the recently opened CaixaForum Madrid.
In 2005, the bank received the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya for these efforts.
Branch network and remote banking
At the end of 2007, La Caixa had 5,480 branches, of which 5,468 are located throughout Spain and 2 operating abroad (WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland and Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
), and 10 representative offices in Germany, Belgium, China, France, Italy, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Portugal and the United Kingdom. La Caixa also has over 8,011 ATMs, through which more than 500 million transactions were made in 2007. All ATMs are fitted with keyboards adapted to the Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
system and allow the letter size used on the screens to be increased. Of these, 2,491 include a voice system for people with visual impairment.
La Caixa also has an online banking service (Línea Abierta) which offers more than 700 consultations and transactions (including account management, transfers, direct debits, arranging deposits, loans and mortgages, pension plans, investment funds) and now has over 2.5 million operating customers a month (September 2008), both private individuals and companies. La Caixa's online bank is the leading one of its kind in Europe according to the AQMetrix (Private Banking Division – autumn 2008). The Línea Abierta Móvil service allows customers to consult statements and account and credit card movements, make transfers, consult listings, buy and sell securities and receive notifications via SMS
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
.
In addition, ServiCaixa leads the Spanish market in sales of cinema, theatre, music and sports events tickets via e-channels (7.7 million advance sales in 2007).
External links
- Official website (in English)