IBS Journal July 2017


15


OpenBank’s transformation looks beyond Spain


operating in Spain, has become the first bank in the country to go fully digital, relaunching and expanding its range of product offerings. IBS spoke with a spokesman from the bank to get an insight into its recent activity.


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With this move, the bank’s 1 million customers will have access to a full suite of banking products, including all-digital onboarding, biometric identification, virtual branches, and video sessions with advisors.


The bank has a legacy of having been active for 22 years, and under current rebranding and transformation, much of its previous offering carries over. The logo and presentation have also undergone transformation, moving away from a design that resembled Santander’s.


Among these products, the bank offers current accounts and deposits, loans and mortgages, and an entire range of investment products (funds, pensions, shares, ETFs…). They even have the Open Young card, designed to introduce teens to banking and financial management under the parent’s account supervision.


Digital only


Previously, OpenBank required customers to visit OpenBank or Santander branches to open accounts. Now everything is done digitally, even though Spain’s regulation requires at least one operating branch to grant a banking license. OpenBank, for its part, runs a location in Madrid. The bank also allows customers to apply for products via email, video call, or through the IBAN number attached to another account held by the same customer.


Interestingly, the bank’s target demographics aren’t city- based millennials, like many UK-based neo-banks, but an older professional core between 30 and 55 years of age.


OpenBank is also one of the few banks to run its platform on a cloud-based IT infrastructure, including all its


Expansion and innovation


The bank has only operated in Spain so far, unlike its parent bank Santander, which has expanded to other countries, including the UK. However, there are plans to take the same digital model to other geographies, said Ezequiel Szafir, CEO of Openbank, during the bank’s relaunch, according to the spokesman.


At the moment, OpenBank has 130 employees, and this recent relaunch has spurred a ‘start-up’ attitude, according to OpenBank’s CEO. This means a focus on innovation and transformation, where anything is possible in terms of expansion.


penBank, Santander’s subsidiary


software, client transactions, and APIs. This infrastructure has been in the works for the past 15 months, according to the release, but the spokesman wasn’t able to disclose which companies’ software they are utilising.


“We want to offer personalized financial services, accessible from anywhere, at any time,” says Ana Botin, Banco Santander Executive Chairman.


“We have built the bank from scratch using some of the most advanced technologies available, allowing us to provide customized products and services for customers who want a digital only banking proposition,” adds Ezequiel Szafir, CEO of Openbank.


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