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The general director of OpenBank, Patricia Benito, arrived in this world with the firm intention of leaving "her mark in society".This Catalan always had a good teacher at home when learning to be constant, to continue training every day and always fight for what one wants, even if it seems something as intangible and magical as saving or investing through the mobile phone.
"My mother has been a pioneer and a reference for me.He studied four races, also working and being a mother, where he also had a good travel companion that was my father.But those always desire to learn and aspire to more come from my mother who has encouraged them ".
Patricia Benito's mother not only taught her that you can get the high as you want to lookA 10 people.000 inhabitants where I was frowned upon.There was marathons and trained every day, at eight o'clock at night, when I had finished working.People saw her like crazy and said what her husband will think, "he jokes with a tone full of pride.
Now she is the boss of OpenBank, the first online bank that was born in Spain and one of the most valued by customers.There are not many women who occupy that position in our country although in their case it has a great mirror to look at since the largest glass ceiling in the sector has been broken by Ana Botín, the leader of its matrix, the Santander group.
"Historically, in the most responsibility positions there were men and there is a natural tendency to seek the same that made men look for more men.Fortunately they are things of the past and in most companies the values have changed and bets on diversity ".
Patricia Benito at her work table.OpenBank
In fact,OpenBank, que fue el primer banco telefónico en España, siempre ha sido un adelantado a la hora de innovar con su acercamiento a los usuarios, con modelos de liderazgo diferentes o con fórmulas de trabajo distintas.The company's general director does not even have a closed office, but everything is a diaphanous plant where anyone can present their proposal without having to knock on a door.
"We encourage open spaces so that everyone can approach and not see a closed door where to call as formerly.Here everyone can approach to speak, contribute...".
The net
Patricia has been working with customers for years and knows that it is just as demanding that if they sit in front of it.He also knows that it does not matter a sweater as a financial package because the important thing is to "know how to replicate the physical experience, especially emotionally" so that the user feels satisfied.
This degree in Economic and Business Sciences is one of those women who are so sure of what they want to walk on the heights is their natural space.He has never cared to assume responsibilities and when asked about the main secret of women who reach management positions, the first thing he warns is that we must desire him.
"I wanted to do projects that were differential and I have had as a conduct thread of my entire career that entrepreneur. En Tendam lancé los e-commerce desde cero y enOpenBank tiré la plataforma que había y lanzamos una nueva 100% digital".
To change everything from top to work in his work he always had an unpredictable ally: Internet.In Tendam, the company that includes brands such as Cortefiel, Pedro del Hierro, Springfield, Women’secret and Fifty Factory, launched the platform to sell all its clothes in 25 countries in the world.
"Internet attracted me because it was something new and firmly believed that I had potential.I saw how it was working in the US and Germany, that they went ahead of us at that time, and knew that it had to be launched here as soon as possible ".
Now no one could imagine not being able to buy a pajamas on the web or pants in an application.Moreover, now to the smallest in the corner of the neighborhood it has a web and sells online.Why wasn't a bank going to do it in the same way?
"Online is a mixture of technology and emotion.Technology is common to all sectors, what differs is the part of emotion or different interests.In fashion there are much more purchase for impulse and in banking it is more rational.You think about it more and you are looking for security, "he explains.
Information
This online sale expert ensures that the best way to get emotions is knowing very well who your client is: "It is achieved by the customization part, of knowing the customer well and knowing what their interests are and that is where you can touch the emotion.We have up to 3.000 data in the data, from which much more suitable content for each one is created ".
And there appears one of the magical words of these online services: that the experience is intuitive and "save the friction points such as fashion, that you cannot touch the garments"."That is saved with other resources, such as photos, image quality...In the end the sale is sale, in digital or offline, and you have to look at traffic, the average ticket and the number of operations and maximize each one ".
Although it is not so obvious, in that change to digitalization there is a very important creative point where experts such as Patricia Benito contribute a lot of value. De ahí queOpenBank decidiera en 2015 incorporarla precisamente para redirigir clientes a su web y su aplicación: "Es mucho más similar de lo que parece porque cuando me incorporé aOpenBank lo que valoraban de mí era ese conocimiento de plataforma digital donde te conectas y hablas con el consumidor, es decir, llevar los flujos del offline al online".
"Our moment"
She is fond of skiing and running, two sports where you learn almost from the beginning that the exit is important but above all, that you have to know how to stay, which is a background race that ends up winning the one that resists the most.That is why she talks about the special skills that women have to direct and it is clear that it is "our moment".
"Female leadership tends to have more empathetic, we are more adaptable, resilient, we promote a more collaborative, more horizontal, less hierarchical and traditional leadership.The paradigm has changed and what is now demanded are these leaders who motivate.It is not as much as the definition of boss who says what you have to do and already ".
To start changing things, Patrica believes would be good "a temporary installment law until we balance and become equated" and then already, "meritocracy".It is true that if the number of women is compared in Spanish banking compared to Europe, it does not go bad stop, but still, it is far from the 50% archides.."Grant Thornton's last report talks about 2020.
Podría decirse que enOpenBank las mujeres mandan mucho pues llevan años implementando políticas de igualdad: "Estamos por encima del 50% en el número de directivas y a nivel global, somos un 60% de mujeres en la plantilla. Es algo que trabajamos continuamente y tenemos medidas para facilitarlo: en los procesos de selección tiene que haber el mismo número de candidatos hombres y mujeres; revisamos periódicamente los gaps para que no haya divergencias y estamos el 3% a favor de la mujer; y lanzamos iniciativas como 'Women atOpenBank' para garantizar la igualdad de oportunidades en todos los niveles".
In fact.She herself insists on banishing false myths like we are worse chiefs than men: "It is a stereotype that is no longer valid.In organizations of little gender diversity it can happen that to the extent that the alpha male role is the predominant, many times women in those cases adopt the values of men and there comes the worst heads.But in most companies, values have changed, structures also and the way of leading goes more tune with women ".
Así que no quiere ni comentar las críticas que sufrió la vicepresidenta de EEUU, Kamala Harris, por aparecer en la portada de una revista en zapatillas y advierte de que enOpenBank, "las corbatas las tenemos en cuadros de decoración, colgados en las paredes para recordar de dónde venimos": "La pregunta es si unas zapatillas tienen que condicionar lo que se piense de una mujer.You have to tear down any myth about the image that a woman must adopt both professionally and in her personal life, but the same with a man ".
Debates like these seem to the past but many of the barriers that have had to overcome these women were still alive ago only a few decades.In Spain, until the law of 1975, a married woman could not open an account in the bank without her husband's permission, and directives such as Patrica Benito have had to endure that in a job interview they were asked about their plans about theMaternity as labor matters.
"They have asked me more than one occasion and my friends too.Maternity remains a handicap for women and what we have to do from our leadership position is to adopt measures so that it does not influence, so that it is not a barrier or a brake.You have to talk about co -responsibility.And today it is a question that cannot be done.It should be very frowned upon to ask it ".
Pandemia, an opportunity
Para muchos sectores, sobre todo los que tienen que ver con lo digital, la pandemia ha resultado ser un impulso para hacer en cuatro meses lo que estaba previsto para cuatro años y eso le ha ocurrido aOpenBank.
"We have advanced like four or five years in the adoption of digitalization.According to the data of the Function Financial Innovation Barometer, user satisfaction with their banking entity in 2020 has risen one point: from 6.5 to 7.5.Many more clients who were looking for a digital solution forced by the situation have come, they have tried it, they have seen that it is easy, intuitive, and that it can be easily operated without moving from home and they have stayed ".
OpenBank was perfectly prepared for this volume of customers after in 2017 they launched a new digital platform for its website and its cloud -based application and in 2019 they made the international leap to countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.
"In Banca, Spain is the most advanced country, we are going ahead.We have very powerful operators both traditional and digital.It is true that there are digital neobans that are emerging, but the range of complete products that we offer is unique, from the bank account, cards, loans, Wealth Management products, investment management, mortgages....Not even the Neobancos have a single platform with so much ".
What continues to cost the Spaniards to hire on an online bank is the mortgage: "It is the longest and most cumbersome when it comes to uploading the documentation, but we have worked in the 100% digital flow also and the only thing you have to doIt is physically going to the notary and because there is no other alternative ".
Patricia recognizes a senior digital buyer, "I've been in this world in this world".But she is not one of those who believe that the visits to the stores will end: "Nor that the bank branches will disappear.I believe that what provides value is a model where the client is left to choose the channel you want.Obviously the digital is developing a lot because it was not, but there will come a time when the two channels live together ".
