A Google Cloud service outage in Europe has affected the digital operations of part of the banking sector. During the morning, the tech giant reported multiple incidents in the Europe-West2 region, corresponding to London. The incident was detected after 8 a.m. (Catalan time) and was not considered "mitigated" until the afternoon. The company has confirmed that it will publish an analysis of the incident once it completes an internal investigation.

The banking sector is the protagonist of a good part of the week's appointments. The World Bank has renewed its financial management and the Galician entity Abanca has incorporated a well-known face in Southern European finance to the board of directors of its insurance subsidiary. Outside the banking world, the media tandem formed by streamer Ibai Llanos and former footballer Gerard Piqué enters a new business. At the same time, Just Eat appoints a new financial director for Spain and the OBBIO association renews its board with a new president.

Artificial intelligence (AI) affects the entire value chain of banking, and the impact is "brutal". This was stated by the director of the Department of Experimentation and Laboratory of Applied Technologies (Delta) of the Bank of Spain, which is headquartered in Barcelona. During a breakfast organized by the executive organization CEDE at the headquarters of Foment del Treball, he assured that all financial institutions are incorporating this technology, from personnel management and more basic activities to business processes, ranging from credit to risk and monetary policy. The main entities, such as BBVA, CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell, have reinforced this commitment in recent times.

Banc Sabadell, with the new stage under Marc Armengol as CEO and with the BBVA takeover bid in memory, is pressing the accelerator. The French BPCE, which groups entities such as Banque Populaire and Natixis and is the second-largest banking entity in France, has entered the capital of the Valles-based bank with around a 7% stake, valued at approximately 1.2 billion euros.

Spanish banks closed the second quarter of 2026 reaching profitability figures never seen since records began. According to the data published this Monday by the Bank of Spain, the profitability of all credit institutions in the country stood at 16.05%, one and a half points higher than the same period last year. The sector's good performance in terms of productivity, however, clashes with the climate of tension felt among the workforce. Just last week, the services federation of Comissions Obreres (CCOO) –the trade union with the most representation in the Spanish banking and financial sector– called for demonstrations on October 15 and November 4 in front of the main Spanish institutions in a dozen cities to demand better working conditions for employees.

BBVA will distribute a dividend of 37 cents per share to its shareholders, the highest in its history. According to the entity, the operation will be effective on October 15 and will involve a total payout of 2 billion euros. This increase, 16% more than the interim remuneration of the previous year, will be charged against the 2026 results, a fiscal year that, for now, is breaking all records. During the first half of the year, BBVA achieved a net profit of 6.051 billion euros, 10% more than in the same period last year.

The French neobank Qonto, specialized in offering solutions to shorten management times for SMEs, enters a new phase of growth in Europe with the inauguration of its headquarters in the heart of Paris, an 11,000 square meter space located in the city's business and technology district, the Silicon Sentier, also known as the French Silicon Valley.

"The Spanish banking sector had never earned so much money, and its staff have never been worse off." Comissions Obreres has announced an autumn of mobilizations in the banking sector across the State due to the "unbearable working climate" that staff are suffering amid a context of record profits. The pressure measure will arrive, therefore, a few months before the negotiation tables for the sector's next collective agreement are established, which are scheduled for the first quarter of next year. During a press conference held in Madrid this Thursday, CCOO requested that a salary improvement of 7% be studied for 2027, and 4% annually between 2028 and 2030. It also demanded that the next agreement establish a maximum of 1,600 annual working hours, which workers would achieve by gaining a long weekend each month.

Since the arrival of Marc Armengol as CEO of Banc Sabadell last May, practically everything has been positive for the Vallesan entity. During the last four months, the executive has presented almost record-breaking half-year results, with skyrocketing revenues and a net profit of 971 million euros, has exceeded the stock market value prior to the distribution of the extraordinary dividend from the sale of the British subsidiary TSB and continues to boast of its capacity to grow independently after the failed takeover bid by BBVA. Backed by his predecessor, César González-Bueno, and by the group's chairman, Josep Oliu, it is now that Armengol faces his real acid test. This September 1st, the new organizational structure of the bank designed by Armengol himself came into operation. It is the gala lineup with which the former CEO of TSB must now command the fourth largest entity in the State by volume of assets. The composition of the management committee—formed precisely by eleven members, like soccer teams—remains unchanged, but notable changes have been applied in some business areas. Known for his techie profile, Armengol has wanted to make his preferences clear.

The Italian banking sector is experiencing a real earthquake that could completely change the current landscape. The latest plot twist was protagonized by Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the world's oldest bank founded in 1472, which last week presented an offer of 34 billion euros to acquire the Italian entities Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM) and Banca Generali. This move is the latest chapter in a war of hostile bids in which several entities are battling to eliminate competitors and strengthen their position within a national market where growth is increasingly difficult. Amidst these tug-of-wars, Italy also aspires to lead the chapter of cross-border mergers, creating the first pan-European banking giant. All this, under the watchful eye of Giorgia Meloni's government, with a key role in some of these operations.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the oldest bank in the world, has reappeared with all its strength in the struggle that the Italian banking sector is experiencing. After receiving the approval of its board of directors, the Tuscan entity presented this Friday an offer of 34 billion euros to buy the Italian banks BPM and Banca Generali.

The large Spanish banking sector continues to defend its actions in the mortgage market despite the investigation opened in June by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). According to financial sources consulted by the Efe agency, the arguments put forward by the supervisory body have "very little basis" and recall that the Competition Commission already dismissed a complaint against the four major state banks – Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, and Banco Sabadell – for the low profitability of their client deposits.

BBVA continues to grow alone after having turned the page on the failed takeover bid about Banco Sabadell. The entity registered a record profit of 6,051 million euros during the first half of 2026, 10% more than the same period last year at constant exchange rates, that is, eliminating the effects of currency devaluation or appreciation. According to the bank, the improvement is due to the evolution of recurring income, driven mainly by a 17.7% increase in lending.

New semester of green numbers for CaixaBank, which has closed the first six months of 2026 with a net profit of 3,203 million euros, 8.5% more than in the same period last year. This was detailed this Wednesday by the company's CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, during the presentation of the entity's results held in Valencia.

During 2025, Catalans filed 4,798 complaints with the Bank of Spain. The figure – representing 15.4% of the total claims made in the State – is 55% lower than the claims made a year earlier, in 2024. This sharp decrease returns the statistics to their usual pace: as the Bank of Spain explained this Tuesday, 2024 was a year of "extraordinary" activity due to the Supreme Court's ruling on undue mortgage expenses.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has urged the main financial institutions in the euro area to present "by October 31, 2026" a comprehensive action plan with concrete measures to address cybersecurity threats related to cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) models, such as Mythos, developed by Anthropic.

Singular Bank, the financial entity specialized in private banking, has incorporated the Dutch bank ING and the Mexican investment group Actinver as shareholders, in addition to the manager ProA Capital and numerous family offices. With these incorporations, the bank managed by Javier Marín begins a new phase of growth and expansion. The new shareholders have purchased all the shares that until now were owned by Warburg Pincus. Once the sale of shares and the capital increase have been completed, the Dutch bank ING will become the main shareholder, with a 40% stake. The rest of the capital is distributed as follows: the bank's management team and employees, 15.5% (and they will collectively become the second largest shareholder); ProA Capital, 15%; the Mexican financial entity Actinver, 8%, and the different family offices will add up to 21.5%.

The banking sector, which is undergoing a transformation due to digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), experienced a period of office closures and staff reductions starting from the financial crisis of 2008. From the 45,000 branches, with a ratio of 99.02 per 100,000 inhabitants, that existed in Spain that year, it has gone down to around 17,000 currently, with a ratio of 35.03, a 65% drop, despite population growth. And in Catalonia, the process has been similar, going from over 8,000 physical branches in 2008 and a proportion of 110.64 per 100,000 inhabitants, to 25.66, with a total of 2,085 branches, an even greater decrease, of more than 76%. From the 45,000 branches, with a ratio of 99.02 per 100,000 inhabitants, that existed in Spain that year, it has gone down to around 17,000 currently, with a ratio of 35.03, a 65% drop, despite population growth. And in Catalonia, the process has been similar, going from over 8,000 physical branches in 2008 and a proportion of 110.64 per 100,000 inhabitants, to 25.66, with a total of 2,085 branches, an even greater decrease, of more than 76%.

In the Anglo-Saxon language it is common for the names of major commercial brands to become verbs and become part of popular slang, even being accepted as dictionary definitions. Googling or tweeting are just two examples of a practice much less common in Romance languages. But a few years ago, a concept has been fully integrated into the daily lives of most Catalans. Doing a Bizum is an expression that already sounds familiar and refers to a project that academics and financial sector sources consider an "exceptional" success story in the Spanish banking sector.

Until the return of the headquarters of Banc Sabadell last year, Caixa Guissona was the second Catalan financial entity, surpassed only by Caixa Enginyers. Today it is the third, with a classic banking model, which keeps and lends money and with little weight of services and, therefore, of commissions. With a network of five offices, results that grew by 23% last year, to 19.3 million euros; the cooperative of the BonÀrea Agrupa group has its sights set on Girona, the only province where they are not present, explains the general director, Martí Bravo (Sant Cugat del Vallès, 1992), who works at the entity, where he started as an office employee, 11 years ago.