CaixaBank has been leveraging its network of branches in Spain to assist asylum seekers and refugees fleeing Ukraine

Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine has caused the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War with millions fleeing their country. At the same time, it has triggered various actions and reactions from the European Commission and EU regulators that heavily affect banks.
ESBG members have raised to the challenges that the crisis in Ukraine has created. On one hand, they are sharing knowledge and best practices in a coordinated way to tackle the challenges as they raise. On the other, European savings and retail banks have reaffirmed their commitment to social responsibility with direct actions and initiatives to support people in need.

CaixaBank (Spain): Since late February, CaixaBank has been leveraging its network of branches in Spain to assist asylum seekers and refugees fleeing Ukraine. Ukrainian refugees in Spain are eligible for several free services, regardless of which bank they use. Since the early stages of the emergency, CaixaBank set up interpretation and translation services to make it easy for newly arrived people from Ukraine to sign up for basic financial services. As other customers in vulnerable situations do, Ukrainians can open a Social Account at CaixaBank, which includes a checking account, a bank card, and access to online banking free of charge. Moreover, customers of Ukrainian banks are allowed to use CaixaBank’s entire network of ATMs in Spain for free.

Since early March, CaixaBank has been offering free money transfers to Ukraine and neighboring countries, where Ukrainian civilians seek refuge: Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland.
Among the wide range of measures to facilitate aid to the Ukrainian people, CaixaBank collaborated with the CaixaBank Volunteers Association, with more than 5,000 members spread throughout Spain, to mobilize a convoy of buses to the Polish-Ukrainian border and help evacuate people wishing to request asylum in Spain. A total of 204 Ukrainians, mostly young women, and children, have already arrived in Spain thanks to this initiative, and a second convoy was scheduled for the end of April.