CAIXABANK has completed its merger with Bankia, putting an end to the 10-year history of the latter brand – the company as a whole will go by the CaixaBank logo and trading name.
The high-street giant logged the takeover with the Mercantile Registry on Friday, and the very next day, launched on the stock market as a new company.
The bank has stressed that the everyday situation for customers will be 'broadly the same' until the full migration of operations from each entity to the newly-formed firm – a process that is expected to be complete before the end of 2021.
Some changes will occur, mainly for customers of Bankia, as they have now become CaixaBank customers – although they have been assured these will be minor.
One example is account numbers: In Spain, these are 20 digits long, with the first four denoting the bank and the next four the branch.
CaixaBank account numbers start with 2100, and Bankia accounts begin with 2038, meaning Bankia clients' account numbers will now start with 2100 once the migration takes place.
This will not come at any cost to the customer and will be done automatically.
In theory, former Bankia customers do not need to take any action, but if they are self-employed or theirs is a business account, they should notify their clients, suppliers, contractors, accountants and the tax authorities of the change in their IBAN number – the first four digits of which will also swap over to those of CaixaBank – and SWIFT code, which is set to change, if any of these are overseas.
CaixaBank will deal with utility bills and other direct debits and standing orders to ensure they are redirected to the correct account – this is standard practice anyway when a customer changes banks in Spain; it is the new bank which arranges direct debit changes rather than the client's having to call their phone companies, electricity boards and so on to update them – although account holders should keep a close eye on their bill payments over the next few months to ensure this has been actioned correctly.
It is the customer who is legally responsible for bank account change information, but banks will normally handle these as part of their service.
Bankia and CaixaBank mortgage-holders will not change, since this is a contract with a finite duration and specific end date, meaning it is not legally possible for conditions of these to be altered without a new agreement being signed between customer and provider.
The same applies with insurance policies, loans, and deposit accounts with an expiry date – conditions cannot be modified unless both parties agree or there are valid reasons the existing contract already provides for, although when they come to be renewed, the provider, in this case the bank, can change the conditions for the new term, which the holder can then accept or deny; in the case of the latter, this means seeking an alternative product.
Bankia credit and debit card holders can continue using these until they activate their new CaixaBank cards, which will be posted to their home addresses after the system migration; even once the cards arrive, they will not replace the Bankia ones until the new version has been physically put in operation by the customer.
CaixaBank card holders do not need to take any action, as their existing cards will continue to function.
Credit and debit cards – not the physical card, which has an expiry date, but the service – as well as savings and current accounts are contracts of indefinite duration with no set end date, meaning their conditions can be modified by law.
This said, any changes have to be notified to the customer within a set legal time period.
If conditions alter so as to be less beneficial to the client – such as increased commission payments for having an account open - at least two months' notice must be provided, so he or she has the option to cancel the contract at no cost and without penalty.
Where conditions are changed to the benefit of the customer, such as commissions being reduced or axed, the amendment can take place immediately and without notice.
One issue Bankia and CaixaBank customers with high sums in their accounts may face is the loss of protection of some of their savings: The Deposit Guarantee Fund insures up to €100,000 per account holder and bank, meaning if an entity goes bankrupt overnight, all savings and current account funds up to and including this amount will be paid to all account holders and will not be lost.
Any amount above €100,000 held by the same bank is potentially at risk, as its refunding to the account holder is not legally guaranteed.
This means if a customer had €100,000 in a CaixaBank account and another €100,000 in a Bankia account, both sums would have been protected in full as they were with different entities.
But now CaixaBank and Bankia are the same company, this means the customer has €200,000 with one bank, so only half of it is insured by the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
These customers are advised to move any excess over €100,000 to another bank altogether, as a precaution.
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