CaixaBank, Global Payments and Ingenico Group partner to create an international innovation programme supporting startups in the fintech and business sectors

• ● The programme will identify the best initiatives in retail and financial services and will provide funding, co-working spaces and advisory services ● CaixaBank, Global Payments and Ingenico Group will have the initial opportunity to incorporate the ideas developed by the start-ups. ● The new project will be called Zone2boost.

CaixaBank, Global Payments and Ingenico Group join forces to launch an international innovation programme aimed at startups with the objective of contributing to promoting the creation of new products and services for the business and fintech sectors. The project, Zone2boost, will be established as a new company owned by CaixaBank (40%), Global Payments (40%) and Ingenico (20%) and will rely on IESE as collaborating entity.

The programme was presented today in Barcelona at a press conference participated by Juan Antonio Alcaraz, CaixaBank's Chief Business Officer; Jeff Sloan, Global Payments' CEO; and Mark Antipof, Ingenico's Global Head of Sales and Marketing.

Zone2boost’s mission is to identify innovative technology initiatives for businesses and financial services and support their growth. The selected startups will obtain funding and access to a physical space to develop their projects, as well as work in collaboration with other innovative companies and a team of expert mentors that will provide customized training and advice. Additionally, DayOne, CaixaBank's division providing specialized services to startup businesses, will offer tailored financing.

As a part of collaboration with the project's partner companies, entrepreneurs participating in this initiative will be given the opportunity to have access to their customers. CaixaBank, Global Payments and Ingenico Group will have preference incorporating a project developed by the startups into each of their commercial offerings.

It is estimated that the support provided to these entrepreneurs will range between six months and two years, throughout which the new companies will evolve from very early stages to a stage that will enable them to access the market.

The programme will be open to studying startups from around the world, although initially it will focus on Barcelona, the city in which the activity will kick off and also where the workspace will be located (Pier02, Barcelona Tech City).

The initiative will be launched in the last quarter of 2019 and will entail an initial investment of five million euros over the next three years. Once the space is fully operational, it is expected to be able to accommodate approximately thirty companies.

Objective: to encourage innovation

Juan Antonio Alcaraz, CaixaBank's Chief Business Officer, acknowledges, "the project's main objective, beyond a successful investment or the entrepreneurial accomplishment of the projects we will support, is to encourage innovation in key sectors for our institution. CaixaBank currently benefits from the collaboration of startups in the development of its innovation, but we believe that the time has come to go one step further and become truly involved in the process of developing new business projects for the sector. We will provide these recently established companies with the optimal environment to test their idea's potential for success." Moreover, Alcaraz emphasises,"CaixaBank has an extensive knowledge on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, especially thanks to DayOne, a division that has created a comprehensive programme for the purpose of becoming the financial partner of the innovation economy".

Jeff Sloan, Global Payments' CEO, commented, “Global Payments is at the forefront of innovation in the payments industry, delivering distinctive technology solutions to our partners and customers worldwide. Together with CaixaBank and Ingenico, we look forward to investing in new businesses and technologies that will enhance future growth in this sector. As a leader in technology-enabled, software-driven payment solutions, this initiative aligns with our commitment to financial technology innovation on a worldwide scale”.

For Nicolas Huss, Ingenico Group's CEO: “The payments industry is transforming more rapidly than ever before and the start-up community is a major part of this transformation. For us at Ingenico, innovation is at the heart of our solutions, so we are excited to be innovating alongside the start-up community through the Zone2boost ambitious program to assist our start-up partners scale up their businesses, and to continue to provide our customers with the best and most innovative payment experience”.

The creation of this international innovation programme for startups has led to a new innovation partnership between companies, following the successful creation of the Payment Innovation Hub by CaixaBank, Global Payments, Samsung, Visa and Arval in 2017.

Also located in Barcelona, it is one of the first hubs in the world to be launched by a multisectoral partnership of companies, all of which are leaders in their respective sectors.

About CaixaBank

CaixaBank is the leading financial group in retail banking in Spain and one of the most significant in Portugal, where it controls 100% of BPI. The bank, chaired by Jordi Gual and whose managing director is Gonzalo Gortázar, has 15.6 million customers in the Iberian market; has the peninsula's largest business network with more than 5,000 branches; and is a leader in innovation with the largest base of digital customers in Spain (6.1 million).

Thanks to its digital transformation strategy, CaixaBank has become one of the highest-rated banks in the world based on the quality of its digital products and services. In 2019, the company was recognised as the "Most Innovative Bank in Western Europe" by the US magazine Global Finance. In addition, in 2018 the company was chosen as the "Best Digital Bank in Western Europe" by the publication Euromoney, and its mobile banking application, CaixaBankNow, was recognised by the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) and the British magazine The Banker as the best mobile technological project in 2018.

CaixaBank has a financial services division for global startups and scaleups with a high growth potential: DayOne, which holds the Premios EmprendedorXXI, the awards for entrepreneurs jointly conferred with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, through Enisa, that is celebrating its 12th edition in 2019.

www.caixabank.com

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions delivering innovative services to our customers globally. Our technologies, services and employee expertise enable us to provide a broad range of solutions that allow our customers to accept all payment types and operate their businesses more efficiently across a variety of distribution channels in many markets around the world.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with approximately 11,000 employees worldwide, Global Payments is a member of the S&P 500 with customers and partners in 32 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Brazil. For more information about Global Payments, our Service. Driven. Commerce brand and our technologies, please visit www.globalpaymentsinc.com.

About Ingenico

Ingenico Group (Euronext: FR0000125346 – ING) is the global leader in seamless payment, providing smart, trusted and secure solutions to empower commerce across all channels, in-store, online and mobile. With the world’s largest payment acceptance network, we deliver secure payment solutions with a local, national and international scope. We are the trusted world-class partner for financial institutions and retailers, from small merchants to several of the world’s best known global brands. Our solutions enable merchants to simplify payment and deliver their brand promise.

www.ingenico.com  

About IESE Business School

The 2018-2019 academic year marks the 60-year anniversary of IESE Business School, which is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra. Founded in 1958, the school is one of the world’s most international business schools, with campuses in Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, New York and São Paulo.

Consistently ranked within the top ten worldwide, IESE Business School has pioneered business education in Europe since its founding. For sixty years, IESE has sought to develop business leaders with solid business skills, a global mind-set and a desire to make a positive impact on society.

The school distinguishes itself in its general-management approach, extensive use of the case method, international outreach, and emphasis on placing people at the heart of managerial decision-making. In the last five years, IESE has positioned itself as number 1 in the world for Executive Education programs, according to the Financial Times ranking.

www.iese.edu

About Barcelona Tech City

Created by successful entrepreneurs, Barcelona Tech City is a private non-profit association that represents more than 800 companies in the digital and technological sectors with based in Barcelona, cooperating with different agents that composes the enterprising ecosystem in Barcelona: entrepreneurs, startups, SMEs, corporations, universities, business schools, public and private organizations, consulting companies. The main objective is consolidating the city as technological hub to enhance the innovations between the different agents that composes the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Barcelona, which employs 30,000 professionals.

The association launched the Pier01 project in 2016 with the aim of becoming a leading technological space in Europe. Located in Palau de Mar (La Barceloneta), in its almost 11,000 square meters, it groups together 100 companies and startups and more than 1,000 professionals.

Now, Barcelona Tech City is working to create the Urban Tech Campus incorporating new hubs, some of them specialized in technologies with great potential such as AI or Blockchain and others focused on different areas as mobility. As part of the initiative, Canódromo by Peninsula has incorporated as videogame and cultural industries hub.

Recently the Association has incorporated two new venues: Pier03, with a Blockchain hub and El Palauet, the social gathering space for the ecosystem members.

https://barcelonatechcity.com/en/