This is a CTP of initiative: FEBEA/Fiare (Spain)
This critical turning point involves the authorization from the Bank of Spain to Fiare for operating as a banking entity based in Spain. In July 2014 the Bank of Spain grants Fiare the inscription in the register of financial entities with the number 1550 (1), which has been qualified by the initiative [1] as an important milestone towards the opening of the Fiare Banca Etica office in Spain:
"The Bank of Spain has officially awarded the registration in the financial entities registry with the number 1550. It is a fundamental stage of our ethical finance project that is currently immersed in a countdown to the opening scheduled for late September in Bilbao" (Fiare, 2014).
This critical point occurs on July 22, 2014, almost 11 years after the creation of the Fiare Foundation as a non-profit foundation. After obtaining the bank license to operate with the Bank of Spain, a new stage in the history of Fiare begins, which will entail the implementation and development of the banking infrastructure - with the opening of the Bilbao- office and information technology that will allow service partners and clients throughout Spain.
In all this process of joint construction of Banca Etica there is a last moment, which I think is very important, this is the registration in the Bank of Spain. It is one thing to be united politically but something very different is that we are our own. In other words, the political union was made, the project was clear ... the materialization as bank of this project is produced, officially, in July 2014, when the bank of Spain sends a communication saying: From this moment on we are already a bank. You are the 1550.
It is the moment that is already the culmination of a very long process, which responds to a dream of many years, having a register from the bank of Spain to be able to have current accounts ... cards, and ultimately, to operate with products subject to the Spanish legislation and with a license from the Bank of Spain. That which we had always been asked about by so many people and never had
This CTP will also allow the consolidation of the project, the institutionalization of Fiare as a real financial alternative to mainstream banking, guaranteeing its long-term viability. The CTP will also lead to a change in the internal structure of the initiative. It will professionalize the banking activity by increasing the structure - still reduced - through the hiring of workers and the design of a strategy to meet the partners demand banking services.
Yes, things are changing a lot. After registration, after starting to operate as a bank in Spain, many changes are taking place. We have a computer software with a company homologated by the Bank of Spain that takes all the computer software, which is RSI, which serves several rural savings banks. Indeed, things have changed a lot. I remember the first time I saw a coordinate card to operate with Internet banking, which I have since two years now. It is a change to see that these tools work well, as well as the card to operate at ATMs. There is a basic technology that works. We are no longer the craft bank we were. We are a bank; eligible and reliable as well as ethical and cooperative
References:
[1] Fiare (2014). El Banco de España otorga una solicitud de inscripción en el registro de entidades financieras con el número 1550 (The Bank of Spain grants Fiare the inscription in the register of financial entities with the number 1550). Web post and press release retrieved from: http://www.fiarebancaetica.coop/comunicado-prensa/el-banco-de-espana-otorga-fiare-inscripcion-en-el-registro-de-entidades
Fiare partners share the perception that this CTP is a milestone in Fiare history as a result of an intense work carried out over a decade by Fiare, formed in 2014 by a total of 5,000 people (social entities and individuals) who have opted for an active promotion of an alternative banking model, through the purchase of shares of Fiare, investing their savings in an ethical banking cooperative.
Fiare is led in 2014 by a group of people who, from the beginning, have strongly encouraged its consolidation process. Fiare maintains its headquarters in Bilbao, but in previous years it has been spreading throughout the Spanish territory, growing significantly in members and in social capital, especially in the period 2008-2014. Thus, Fiare has territorial associations in all the Spanish regions, which have been responsible for extending the discourse of ethical banking and capturing the social capital necessary to create the ethical bank.
Secondly, the respondent highlights the role played by the Italian Banca Popolare Etica, which has accompanied Fiare in an arduous effort to consolidate the project and raise savings capital. Thus, since 2005, both entities established a collaboration agreement that facilitated Fiare to be able to carry out a banking activity in Spain, as an agent of the Italian bank.
The Italian partner provided the technical support and necessary economic investment for Fiare to meet with the legal requirements by the Bank of Spain for the opening of a banking institution in the country. After years of stable collaboration between the two entities, following a successful campaign to collect savings and social capital and having granted the first Fiare credits in Spain in 2011 the general assemblies of partners of both entities approved the integration of Fiare and BpE.
It is also necessary to point out the special socio-economic conditions that Spain suffers as a result of the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and which had a very negative influence on Fiare's activity. This period has been defined by the activists as a real "obstacle course". Because as they gained experience and milestones, new problems arose that jeopardized the viability of the project.
In particular, the financial crisis of 2008 and the strict conditions established for the European financial market, delayed the legal authorization of the Bank of Spain until the summer of 2014. In autumn 2014 a new Fiare stage begins, as the Spanish Area within Banca Popolare Etica.
Since 2009, with a terrible banking crisis, with the fall of Lehman Brothers, subprime mortgages, etc ... We would not have been given a financial license to work without any ally, it seemed clear to us. What we were doing in Fiare was building alliances, which makes absolutely sense in the context in which we move, with a lot of banking pressure. This makes us stronger. What began as an instrument has become a fusion... and that, it makes perfect sense... What would have happened otherwise? Well, we would have not gathered the required capital at the same time. Would have we built a licensed bank instead? I do not know. I do not know what would have been the route without alliances, but it would certainly be more difficult
There are a number of events directly related to this turning point. Firstly, the interviewee mentions the agreement between Fiare and the Italian credit union Banca Popolare Etica (BpE) that enabled that Fiare became the financial operator of BpE in Spain. This agreement lasted until 2014, in which the Bank of Spain legally recognized Fiare Banca Etica as a Spanish independent banking entity.
The good relations established between the two initiatives will lead to a process of creation of the first European ethically-oriented credit cooperative. Initially, this adventure was carried out by three cooperatives, but the cultural differences and a series of legal barriers that hindered the creation of this cooperative, made the French partner leave, but strengthtened trust between the Spanish and Italian cooperatives:
We are a bank with an European vocation, we have changed the statutes to be able to host other entities from the European context. At this moment we are two countries and we have merged our social bases and became a single bank, as I say, a cooperative, ethical and European bank.
After years of campaign of savings collection and the first credits were granted, financing in 4 sectors and collection of social capital, in 2011 the proposal of integration of Fiare and BpE was made, with the approval in the corresponding assemblies of both countries, until arriving in 2013 to the creation of the Fiare Area within Banca Popolare Etica. At this stage, Fiare proposes a new internal structure, similar to the one adopted by its Italian partners. Likewise, the social bases are merged and work begins on the construction of a common discourse that represents the identity of both projects:
The idea of the project was consolidated by a merger between Banca Popolare Etica and Fiare ... beyond the idea of being national bank, a single cooperative entity that operates in both countries. This proposal for integration was submitted to consultation and, finally, approved by the national assembly of Fiare
After the official recognition by the Bank of Spain, in July 2014, in October of the same year, another milestone in the history of Fiare took place: the opening of Fiare Banca Etica's office in the city of Bilbao, where the initiative had begun 10 years ago. The president of Banca Popolare Etica [1] described this moment as the "realization of a dream":
"Just as March 8, 1999 was important for Banca Popolare Etica because it marked its birth, on October 1, 2014, was key because of the opening in the Spanish territory. This date marked the day when the dream began to materialize. It was the day on which the declared, promoted and sought-after ethical finances were consolidated, the ethical finances practiced as financial intermediary. And from then on the answers arrived to citizens about money, about finance and how they can become an instrument for improving the world and not for dominating it, as unfortunately has been happening for too many years" (Biggeri, 2015).
Starting in October 2014, with the opening of the Bilbao office, Fiare's partners begin to perceive that the Fiare project had become reality. Fiare converted from being an agency to work as an independent bank based in Spain, subject to the Spanish banking legislation, and started to provide the minimum banking services demanded by citizens:
There are important changes: first, a very important one. Start working with Spanish computer software. It is very important, because to put it in a way that is understood; you start working with proper bank tools. Having the feeling that you start working as a bank is important, and although there is still much to build, it is a remarkable change, for example being able to have an internet banking, getting your salary in your own bank, making transfers in your bank, etc ... something that until that moment we could not do. Start having banking tool not only Italian, but Spanish, to work as a normal bank
References:
[1] Biggeri, U. (2015). Fiare Banca Etica cumple un año (Fiare Banca Etica celebrates one year old). Article retrieved from: http://www.fiarebancaetica.coop/blog/fiare-banca-etica-cumple-un-ano
There has been no reply to this critical turning point. Firstly, this is a milestone highly anticipated by all Fiare partners and involves the consolidation of the project and the realization of a dream or an essential goal for the viability of Fiare. This is facilitated by an external actor, the Bank of Spain, after a long process of negotiation and verification of compliance with the necessary conditions to be able to act as a legal bank in Spain.
However, the interviewee does mention a series of criticisms that emerge internally from the achievement of this goal. Thus, after the opening of the banking office in Bilbao in autumn 2014, high expectations are generated in relation to the operation of Fiare as a bank. However, the beginning of the activity had many difficulties. Several operational errors were committed, which, although expected, exhausted the patience of a part of the social base that had been waiting for many years to have a bank account in the bank:
There has been some frustration I would say. For a very simple reason… The expectations created ... at the time of having the registry in the bank of Spain ... were enormous. Many people, or everyone, thought that everything was already done ... we already had all the services and that everything will go very well from the first day. The expectation was very high. Then there has been some impact, it has been like getting into a running train and remain standing. Not everything has worked from the beginning to perfection. We needed an adaptation period
On the other hand, there has also been a sector of partners that adopted a more comprehensive and tolerant position to mistakes or delays. With all this, Fiare has managed to maintain the motivation of its social base and reverse an internal climate that was quite critical in the beginning, as the interviewee remembers:
There are more those more sympathetic people, the vast majority, very militant and who accept these inconveniences and there are others that do not and that have been critical. But that is normal in an organization of so many people and if you have to admit that there has been some frustration on the part of some partners, especially at the beginning, a discouragement for the expectations created, it is more certain that we have been going back for some time. Things are progressively… are much better, especially when you see that banking tools work. Then, it is not possible to generalize on the social basis ... The districts where partners come from have their particularities, their diagnoses, and their strategies, which are different depending on the territory. Without undertaking any evaluation, the situation of the Balearic group is not the same as that of Extremadura. Each territory has its own specificities
The vast majority of Fiare's activist partners share the perception that this event is a turning point, a critical turning point, in Fiare's history. It was a long-awaited and desired milestone and that would mark a before and after in the initiative. This CTP has been described as "a historical moment" by the spokespersons of Fiare Banca Etica, a shared idea that has been transmitted to most of the partners, through the communication tools of Fiare: Web, newsletters, blog posts in Local initiatives, etc. The entity's own leaders emphasize this in their articles and conferences.
July 2014 was a symbolic moment, but nothing happened. They simply sent us an email. The process began in October 2014, when we started the migration of all customers with an account in Italy to Spain, both savings and credit (NA the interviewee refers to the partners of Fiare who had previously been clients of BpE, while waiting to operate as a bank in Spain). This was at the end of 2014 throughout 2015. Especially the first semester
The interviewee also reflects on Fiare's capacity in 2014 to design and anticipate the banking model that would be more viable for the Spanish initiative, given its limited structure and capacity to launch the bank. According to this, it was decided that Fiare will be an online bank and that it should prioritize the services to entities and companies of the social economy:
We are a bank that tries to operate by Internet for private individuals especially, that is to say, we do not have a model of development of many offices. This is because future banking will rely more on the internet, or even on mobiles rather than on a network of offices. We also do not believe that economically it is a logical choice to have an office network today. We have to have internet banking and a focus especially on the entities, to serve the entities and to obtain credit and to provide services. This is more or less the model we are developing in Spain and of course, it is different than the model we had before ... Before we did not have a computer system developed, but rather simple, also functioning as an agency of an Italian ethical bank. Everything was largely face-to-face, handmade, and very laborious. This has also meant a significant change "(N.A., the interviewee is referring to banking information technology)
Also, there was a certain perception that the expectations generated by this CTP could lead to frustration among the most impatient partners. For those most active in the project - as well as those most involved in the banking sector - delays in the setting up of the Bilbao office or the initial mistakes were predictable and understandable:
The delays that have occurred, the operating errors that have been at the beginning were totally expected, in a bank with such a reduced staff and starting with totally new systems. It was announced that in January 2015 we would have the cards ... but we knew that this date could be delayed, due to many factors. Just if something has surprised us in such a young initiative, it is how well Internet banking works. Really the software is going well ... You've been dreaming it for a long time and now you see that you are doing it, that this is serious, and that we are the bank that we had projected.”
The interviewee has extracted a series of learning related to the process of change that is generated within the structure of Fiare, from the materialization of said CTP. Thus, firstly, reference is made to the first steps as a new banking institution, since October 2014, with the opening of Fiare's first banking office in Bilbao (Basque Country).
This learning has served as a basis for establishing the bank's strategic lines for the next years:
The change of 2014/2015 was to be able to work as a Spanish bank, to work in Spanish, for example, to start having a technology that works, was the beginning of having the feeling that we were a bank, that until now we did not have it
The strategic line is to consolidate the operational structure of Fiare, the operational services, which means that we focus as Internet banking to individuals and in person to institutions, targeting credit and services, and on the other hand, to continue the consolidation process consolidation of our social base and associative diagram
The CTP has also involved a process of reconciliation between two very different roles within Fiare: the development of a typical financial activity - legislated by the Bank of Spain - and a more activist role played by the local structures of Fiare, which should be geared to awareness-raising, education and lobbying activities.
Throughout this process of adaptation, Fiare generated great expectations that have not been completely satisfied and which has resulted in some frustration and discomfort among some associates. Fiare has reflected on the failures in the communication strategy that has been followed, learning from the mistakes made, such as the risk of transmitting an overly optimistic messages to maintain the motivation of the associates, which has had negative consequences for the initiative.
These lessons also lead to the reflection of the type of identity sought by the initiative:
Maybe we've made some miscommunication. It is also very difficult to communicate the project to such a large social base ... when we have not had a communication department or a person who is dedicated solely to communicate. I think we have not communicated as well as we could have done. We must always communicate from humility, not only sell ourselves as a bank but as a citizenship movement, as something that is built from below, as a political project of transformation....Always insist that we are a tool created by the Citizenship and not just a bank that will provide services. In any case, the partners who have expressed their discomfort have been a minority, since the majority of members are militants and convinced of Fiare Banca Etica, and are proud of everything that has been achieved
The materialization of the Fiare project in a bank office and in an online bank has allowed the partners to perceive that, in fact, the objectives set by Fiare at the time of its creation, 10 years ago, have been fulfilled. Very important achievements have been met, materializing in pragmatic and material issues, such as a debit cards. This increases the motivation of the associates, who perceive that the effort and the waiting have paid off:
I think things are coming back up again. I'll tell you a scoop: this year with the opening of Fiare to everyone, the possibility will open to have online accounts for everyone. This is going to be a very large image jump, for the better. For example, having a bank card. I got mine before yesterday. It's another perception when you have a card and it says Fiare on it. It's something else, it helps a lot. Many people tell me that a bank is not a bank until you have no card. If we did this interview in three years, maybe the timing of the card would be another turning point. We do not know yet but it could be. If you are an internet bank that works and you have the card so that you can withdraw money from the ATM you could be in Fiare and do everything. Unless you have a very weird need. And then that might be, a turning point by force ...
However, the interviewee highlights an essential feature of this process: the entity has been able to remain faithful to its principles and insists that the mission has not changed, despite having entered the "system" that Fiare aims to change and improve:
The mission has not changed that much, the mission has always been the same. No change of focus has occurred. We are an European project, but the background of the mission has never changed. This seems to me important to highlight, because you can look for other alliances, other strategies but the mission is the same ... the mission is the social transformation through credit. Put another way: promote and be the engine of social and solidarity economy ... be a lever of social transformation, in alliance with other networks, social movements…I think that has been maintained over time
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