Banco Mare Nostrum signs strategic agreement with IBM to transform and optimize its... -- MADRID, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- MADRID, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Banco Mare Nostrum (BMN) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced an agreement to transform and optimize the bank's IT infrastructure and applications. Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO IBM will help BMN improve the efficiency and flexibility of its technology and provide major access to IT innovation to help reinforce BMN's regional franchise and retail business. This will allow the bank to better focus on providing personal services to people who are self-employed and to small companies, as well as contribute to socio-economic progress in its Spanish region. The ten-year agreement is valued at approximately $300 million. With almost three million customers, BMN is a financial group resulting from the integration of Cajamurcia, CajaGranada and Sa Nostra, which makes it the market share leader in the Spanish geographic areas. Previously, technology services were delivered by infoCaja, a technology firm owned by BMN and Liberbank. Through this sourcing agreement, IBM and BMN will create a new company which will provide application management, maintenance and consolidate its IT infrastructure. More than 50 professionals from infoCaja will join the new company. "This project provides the bank with a new and more flexible technological model that allows us to focus on our core business and delegate IT management to a leader like IBM," "said BMN president Carlos Egea Krauel. Innovation center As part of this agreement, BMN and IBM plan to develop a Banking Innovation Center which will join a network of IBM Banking Excellence Centers worldwide. This center will research transformation projects around mobility, Big Data, dynamic pricing, fraud management and risk management. "Spanish banks are immersed in an unprecedented transformation where technology innovation distinguishes leaders in this competitive industry," said Marta Martínez Alonso, country general manager for IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel. With this agreement, IBM will help BMN achieve its strategic objectives of getting closer to its clients and delivering a best in class service. About IBM For more information of IBM, please visit: www.ibm.com/mx/es Media Contacts Charisse Higgins 347-266-7540 cthiggins@us.ibm.com Alfonso Gonzalez Herrero External Relations, Spain +34-91-3977675 alfonso_gonzalez@es.ibm.com RELATED LINKS http://www.ibm.com