Banco Sabadell has launched the first subscription management service in the Spanish financial market. The tool has been created by the bank’s digital business hub InnoCells in collaboration with the Swedish fintech Minna Technologies. It has taken less than three months to develop and is now integrated in Banco Sabadell’s mobile app.
The subscription management service provides a complete picture of all subscriptions and bills paid by direct debit and / or by debit card at Banco Sabadell. This allows users to manage expenses such as utilities (electricity, gas), telecommunications (mobile, internet), digital services (TV channels, TV shows, movies and music online) and / or insurance. Users can also receive alerts of changes in their subscriptions, so they can cancel unwanted subscriptions with just one click, and even compare prices and switch to a different provider if they find another offer that is more suited to their needs.
The tool is being tested in a pilot involving 5,500 customers of the financial institution. The goal in the upcoming months is to gradually make this service available to more users, while identifying which types of customers show more interest and which customer segment extracts the most value from this type of service.
Pol Navarro, CEO of InnoCells, said: “Banco Sabadell continues to promote its capacity for innovation and digital transformation through different levers, including collaboration with third parties. Open Banking allows us to innovate and offer new digital products and value-added services for our clients, and we are now giving them the ability to manage their recurring payments and save on bills, which will help them take control of their finances”. Denis Nakagaki, Director of Digital Strategy, Investments and Partnerships at InnoCells, added: “With the growing popularity of subscription services, we launched this service to respond to the desire of our clients to have more control and flexibility in the way they manage their money. This is a clear example of the collaborations with fintech that we intend to promote on a large scale within Banco Sabadell”.
Joakim Sjöblom, CEO of Minna Technologies, noted: “This partnership is a testament to Banco Sabadell’s speed, agility, and innovative approach to customer-centric banking. It is this collaborative approach which makes it a first-mover in the Spanish market and a leader in Europe. By optimising subscription management tools, Banco Sabadell and Minna are empowering the modern consumer to take control of their financial health – not only gaining insights but taking action in a seamless, integrated way”.
Making customers’ lives easier
As the average number of fixed expenses grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of them. Often, customers do not know how many subscriptions they have in total or how much they pay for them. They also bemoan complex cancellation processes, which can sometimes result in them paying more than they want to because of the difficulty in switching to a different provider.
Simplifying the control over these payments through the subscription management service offers Banco Sabadell a unique opportunity to help customers and strengthen the digital value-added relationship. More than 50% of those involved in the pilot believed that this service would add value to their financial management, and most of them would check the tool monthly (40%) or quarterly (32%). While it was initially assumed that this service would be particularly popular among younger users, the results of the pilot have shown that it meets the needs of people of all ages. There are three main variables that determine the extent to which a customer needs this service: level of financial control, consumer behaviour and ability to save.
This subscription management service is being further developed to allow customers to have an overall vision and full control over all of their subscriptions and bills, regardless of the bank in which they have set up payments. Likewise, since April 2020 Banco Sabadell has allowed other financial institutions to link their accounts to the app, so that users can see all the information in one place using the bank’s digital channels. In December, Banco Sabadell began allowing its business customers to make payments from its own website using the accounts of other banks, becoming one of the first European entities to offer this service.
