MADRID, Spain, July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Cajamar and IBM Group (NYSE: IBM), through its subsidiary in Spain, INSA, announced today that they signed a 10-year application management service contract. The agreement is expected to provide Cajamar with more efficiency and better quality in applications development, which will help the bank offer better services to its clients.

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Cajamar Caja Rural is the leading rural savings bank and credit union in Spain. It has 1.3 million members and around 4 million customers, 6,589 employees and 1,339 branches in Spain. The Group, with a vocation for retail banking, offers products and financial advice to its strategic segments including families, self-employed, professionals, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and especially the food sector and social economy.

Cajamar sees an opportunity for its business expansion. As a result, the services included in the agreement are the development and maintenance of a large number of applications including online banking, web development, payments methods, regulatory information, etc. Additionally, Cajamar and INSA are finalizing the details for the creation of a Technology Innovation Center (CENIT) in Almeria, Spain, which would help Cajamar expand its services and its client base. The center would allow Cajamar access to IBM's innovation capabilities and financial sector best practices.

IBM Country General Manager for Spain, Portugal, Greece & Israel, Marta Martinez Alonso, said "we feel proud of being Cajamar´s technology partners and helping the bank to achieve greater innovation which will enable it to accomplish its expansion and leadership objectives."

Technology center

The new innovation center will be part of the network of CENIT centers that INSA has in Spain. Centers are currently located in Caceres, Salamanca, Orense and Reus. CENIT centers are important focal points of innovation, research and development in the cities where they are located. In addition, the centers promote collaboration agreements between IBM Group and the universities in these cities to help develop technological and economic progress for the community. With CENIT Almeria, the agreement with Cajamar foresees a significant collaboration with the University of Almeria.

The resources, technologies, and knowledge that IBM and its companies would have through the new CENIT innovation center in Almeria would enable it to deliver the best service to Cajamar and other clients as well as saving them costs.

About IBM

For more information about IBM, please visit: www.ibm.com.

Contact
Alfonso Gonzalez Herrero
IBM Media Relations
+34 91 3977675
alfonso_gonzalez@es.ibm.com

Joanna Brewer
IBM Media Relations
415-971-2777
jmbrewer@us.ibm.com

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SOURCE IBM