Bankia : Ignacio Cea, “Bankia is committed to openly cooperating with fintechs to bring value to our customers”

• The manager spoke at the eFintech Show which began today at the Fira de Barcelona fairgrounds
• 'Collaborating with startups has become a source of solutions that can introduce Bankia to new ways of working, new approaches and access to external talent'
• Bankia is working with fintechs 'under extremely flexible conditions' with an innovation team dedicated to 'facilitating the adaptation and integration of their ideas and proposals into the bank's range of services'.

'Bankia is committed to openly cooperating with fintechs to bring value to our customers', said Ignacio Cea, the bank's Corporate Director of Technology Innovation and Strategy, during his speech at the eFintech Show, the fintech event that began today at the Fira de Barcelona fairgrounds.

Cea went on to say, 'Collaborating with startups has become a source of solutions that can introduce Bankia to new ways of working, new approaches and access to external talent', adding that 'We are convinced that this is the way to accelerate our innovation'.

The manager expressed his belief that 'collaboration with startups is a win-win situation, in which both sides gain'. The reason for this is that it combines the fintechs' ideas and proposals with Bankia's customer knowledge, which generates 'a perfect platform for designing the evolution of the financial sector'.

Cea explained that Bankia is working with the fintechs 'under extremely flexible conditions' with an innovation team dedicated to 'facilitating the adaptation and integration of their ideas and proposals into the bank's range of services'.

Promoting entrepreneurship

One of Bankia's strategic goals is 'to accompany SMEs and entrepreneurs', exploring 'every possible means of collaboration with this customer segment'. 'Helping the startup ecosystem to mature' also contributes to 'promoting entrepreneurship and helping the small and medium-sized business sector to become an engine for economic activity' concluded Cea.

The bank, together with Innsomnia, has launched Spain's first fintech incubator and accelerator called Bankia Fintech by Innsomnia. A total of 14 companies are currently developing their projects through this program. It has also just launched its first international programme, focused on the main European marketplaces and Latin American countries in order to attract quality talent to Spain that will help tackle the new challenges facing the banking sector.