Bnc10, the alternative to traditional banking
Albert Llorens Albareda, CEO of bnc10
What does the company specialize in?
The bnc10 app is an alternative to traditional banking, and helps you manage your money day-to-day with the help of a commission-free current account, MasterCard, and transfers and payments via Google and Apple Pay. We are now also introducing insurance and investment opportunities with a pay-per-use system.
What year was it founded and who are the founders?
It was founded in 2018 by Manel Vallet, Will McCahey, and David Montanyà.
When did you start to work in this company?
After 5 years working at CaixaBank and playing a role in the launch of imaginBank, I joined the project in mid-2019. Our challenge was to launch the app, acquire the first customers, and scale up the team. Today, bnc10 has a team of 20 people and 50,000 customers.
What do you like most about your work?
The challenge and the need to adapt constantly. We are a startup and in the current uncertain situation we are forced to evolve and do our very best every day, both individually and as a team. Without a doubt, the cliché that you innovate more and grow personally when you go outside your comfort zone is show to be true here.
And what do you like least?
The fact that we have to carry out non-stop funding and fundraising rounds.
What do you think your company excels at?
For the transparency, simplicity and ease of the financial services and products we offer our users. Anyone can sign up to the app and make their first payment within just 10 minutes.
What is your main challenge?
We need more people to discover that our app is an excellent alternative to traditional banking, not only for managing their money on a daily basis but also for insuring their travel and goods, and for making investments.
Where is your company located? Do you know why this place was chosen?
We are based in a coworking center on Aragó street in the Eixample. This gives us flexibility that suits the way the team is structured and enables us to take advantage of an innovative and technological environment with other startups.
What do you like most about the neighbourhood you work in?
We are really well-connected there. In just a few minutes, we can get anywhere in the entire city by public transport, bicycle, or private vehicle.
How important is Barcelona for your company?
Barcelona is important to us for what it represents, which is innovation, multiculturalism, transparency, drive, entrepreneurship and, above all, passion. That’s why the bnc10 logo is one of the most recognizable symbols of our city, the Puig i Cadafalch panot design.
With which city would you compare Barcelona?
Rome. Not only due to its lifestyle, architectural beauty, and business-friendly approach, but also for its history and grandeur.
What form of urban model should Barcelona adopt?
The Boston model. Boston has an ecosystem that involves innovation, entrepreneurship and, above all, the ambition to play an active role in the transformation not only of the city itself but of the whole world.
What best practices from other cities would you like Barcelona to adopt?
I like the approaches of Copenhagen and Reykjavik, which are sustainable and citizen-centered.
What do you ask of the Barcelona of the future?
I would ask it to play a much more active, ambitious role on the world stage. I believe that it should also make a greater commitment to digitalization and technology as a transformative process, and, in particular, I would ask it to ensure that the inhabitants of Barcelona are always taken into account in all developments.
