Kirsty Mckenzie
CUSTOMERS will be unable to make cash transfers through Bizum for several days ahead of a scheduled cut in services.
The hault in services – set for November 11 to 14 – will only impact Bankia and CaixaBank clients.
It comes as two of Spain’s high street banks complete their merger to become Spain’s largest banking entity.
The new mega-bank has insisted that things will broadly remain the same for those existing clients of either bank but some things will change, mainly for those customers of Bankia.
Bankia – which took over from the ill-fated Caja Madrid a decade ago is now obsolete as a brand and its name will no longer exist.
Instead clients will automatically find themselves with accounts under Caixabank, which will retain its logo and trading name.
And whole the final stags of the merging takes place, Bankia and CaixaBank’s seven million customers will be unable to make transfers via Bizum.
This is because the Bank app is being eliminated to be replaced by the CaixaNow platform.
This will only affect online banking, as customers can still withdraw money at ATMs and pay with the card as normal.
Come November 14, bankers will the Bankia clients will have to use the CaixaBankNow application for online banking and CaixaBank Sign to authorise certain actions.
Users will be able to use the same access credentials that they used in the Bankia app and there will be no need for them to change their cards or checkbooks.
Clients can continue to use the Bankia card and when it expires they will be given a new one from CaixaBank.
There will be no changes in the conditions in mortgages, personal loans, deposits and insurance policies signed with Bankia, but the Bankia IBAN will change to a new one.
Finally, clients belonging to the Por ser tú program will go to CaixaBank’s Day by Day.
Bizum will cease working for customers at 9am on Thursday, November 11 for all customers, before the system on the Bankia app will go down at 3pm on November 12.
As of November 14, former Bankia customers will all have been moved to the new Caixabank app and Bizum will once again work normally.
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It is therefore advisable that customers who now find they have over 100,000 savings more any excess to another bank to ensure they are guaranteed in case the bank folds.
BYE BYE BANKIA: MERGER WITH CAIXABANK
