La Caixa to maintain the Cajasol brand in Sevilla, Huelva and Cádiz

Sign of the times
(Photo: diariodesevilla.es)

Clients able to take out money without commission from Caixabank cash machines network from August 3 · Completed IT integration by December

SPAIN (Agencies) Clients of Cajasol, which was taken over by Banca Cívica, which in turn was taken over by La Caixa recently, will be able to cash their money at any of La Caixa's cash machines against their debit cards 'without any commission charge'. This means they will have access to over 10,000 machines throughout Spain. The systems of both entities are scheduled to be totally merged by mid-December. The moment that happens, say La Caixa sources, Cajasol customers' current and savings accounts will have new numbers. "This change of numbers will not affect direct debit or standing orders, nor money transfers in or out of an account. Mortgages and credits will also maintain the exact same agreements obtained at the time of their having been conceded. That means that Cajasol customers will not have to do anything at all to continue the same service they had enjoyed before," says La Caixa. As for Cajasol cards, these may be used until they expire or are renewed and activated by La Caixa, which will be happening after the system merges completely in mid-December.>>>
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The merger of the Banca Cívica IT system with that of La Caixa will not happen at once, but rather on a step-by-step basis. In fact, Cajasol's system will be integrated after that of Caja Navarra (another caja absorbed by Banca Cívica before the La Caixa takeover), which is cheduled to be completed in October. Another two cajas (also part of the Banca Cívica deal), Cajacanarias and Caja de Burgos, are scheduled for February and April respectively.

The merger between Caixabank, as it will be called - La Caixa (la caja in Catalan) became a fully-fledged banks at the end of last year - will result in the largest such entity in Spain, with over 13 million customers and assets of some €342,000 million. In Andalucía, Caixabank will be a leading bank in terms of market share, including 1,272 branches and 20.4% of the market, and 17.3% of the credit market.

La Caixa Board reduce their salaries by 10%

The 21 members of the Board of Directors at La Caixa approved a motion last week to lower their salaries by 10% from August 1. The measure comes after the Minister for Economy and Competition, Luis de Guindos, proposed that companies on the Ibex share index adjust the salaries of their boards and top executives salaries downwards as a way of sharing the cutbacks being established in other sectors of the economy.

The Cajasol brand

The Cajasol brand is well known all over Andalucía, but especially in the provinces of Sevilla, Huelva and Cádiz, where its branches have been concentrated for many years. The entity is the result of the merger of several smaller cajas, such as Caja San Fernando and Caja de Jerez that took place in 2006. The Banca Cívica brand, however, will disappear altogether in Analucía but remain in the same way as Cajasol in Andalucía but in the North, in the Canaries and in Burgos.

The Cajasol logo will still be seen at the bank's branches in the three provinces mentioned above, together with the La Caixa star, but branches outside these provinces will show only the La Caixa logo.

La Caixa, or Caixabank, is in fact owned by its own Foundation, Fundación La Caixa, which supports a considerable number of what it calls its 'social work'. This entity, funded by the very successful banking business, backs all kinds of projects in Spain and in the Third World, ranging from educational grants to agricultural entrepreneurship. (CampoPulse will be writing about this aspect of the newly created banking giant.