Prudential Financial has launched a suite of resources to support customers navigating the loss of a loved one.

Who?

Prudential Financial is a global leader in financial services and a premier active global investment manager headquartered in the United States. With operations spanning the US, Asia, Europe and Latin America, Prudential provides access to investing, insurance and retirement security solutions.

Why?

Prudential’s mission is to be a steadfast partner to its policyholders and their families at every stage of life. This commitment extends beyond financial protection to include emotional and practical support during life's most challenging moments.

How?

Prudential has entered a strategic relationship with Empathy, a leading bereavement support platform, to enhance its suite of resources for beneficiaries coping with loss. Beneficiary support services include:

• Comprehensive bereavement tools, offering assistance with tasks such as funeral arrangements, obituary writing, probate and estate settlement.

• Access to dedicated care managers, who provide personalized guidance through each decision, task and challenge beneficiaries face.

U.S. Bank has introduced a new travel booking platform exclusively for its credit cardholders, enabling them to book hotels, flights and rental cars seamlessly.

Who?

Headquartered in Minneapolis, U.S. Bank serves millions of customers locally, nationally and globally. It offers a diverse range of services, including consumer banking, business banking, commercial banking, institutional banking, payments and wealth management.

Why?

U.S. Bank aims to enhance the credit card rewards and benefits experience by providing cardholders with a reimagined travel planning experience, more choices and greater value. 

How?

The U.S. Bank Travel Center, powered by Booking.com and Agoda Rocket Travels, enables the bank’s credit cardholders to reserve hotels, flights and rental cars with ease. 

Additionally, cardholders gain access to several new rewards and benefits, including:
• Cash-back deals
• Merchant discount offers
• Paze, an online checkout solution that uses tokenization to enhance transaction security by ensuring the actual card number is never shared with merchants.

By introducing a pay-on-demand service in Spain, Banco Santander is offering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the ability to provide employees with real-time access to their earned wages.

Who?

Santander is a global commercial bank headquartered in Spain, with a meaningful presence in 10 core markets in Europe, North America and South America. With a global workforce of 200k+ employees, they provide services to 165 million individual, corporate and SME clients.

Why?

This initiative addresses a growing appetite for flexible financial solutions among Spain’s workforce. According to research conducted by CloudPay, 44% of employees say that access to on-demand pay would strengthen their loyalty to their employer. Such tools not only mitigate financial stress but also contribute to mental well-being, factors that have taken on heightened importance in today’s competitive labor market.

How?

Santander has teamed up with CloudPay to offer an on-demand wage payment solution to its SME customers in Spain. Using CloudPay NOW, SMEs will be able to provide employees with real-time access to their earned wages. This innovative partnership breaks down barriers, making a service typically available to large corporations accessible to SMEs, ultimately improving financial flexibility and employee well-being.

Through this initiative, Santander is addressing the growing global demand for financial wellness solutions, positioning itself as a leader in fostering positive workplace cultures.

CaixaBank has launched an in-branch sign language video interpreting service, setting a new standard for accessibility and inclusion in banking.

Who?

With 20.2 million customers, more than 45k employees and 4,130 branches, CaixaBank is one of the leading banks in Spain, with a significant presence in other European countries and a growing international footprint.

Why?

Through this service, CaixaBank is taking a further step forward in its commitment to financial inclusion in-branch. The bank also promotes ATM accessibility, with more machines now featuring high-contrast screens, informative videos in sign language, voice-guided options for the visually impaired and easy-to-navigate menus.

How?

The SVisual service provides hearing-impaired customers with simultaneous video interpreting in sign language, delivered by a qualified interpreter. This free service breaks down communication barriers, improves transparency, and ultimately offers this segment valuable investment and financing proposals.

The initiative has been launched as a pilot at 120 CaixaBank branches across all of Spain’s autonomous regions and is expected to be available across the entire CaixaBank branch network during the first quarter of 2025.

HSBC UK has unveiled more than 40 new or enhanced features for Premier customers as it re-launches its flagship fee-free premium account. 

Who?

Part of the multinational HSBC financial services group, HSBC UK serves over 14.7 million active customers across the UK. It offers a complete range of retail banking and wealth management to personal and private banking customers, as well as commercial banking for SMEs and large corporates.

Why?

HSBC UK wanted to refresh its Premier offering for the mass affluent segment, enabling it to support a new generation of customers with their life goals and deepen existing relationships. The bank recognizes that a good quality of life matters to everyone – not just financial, but mental and physical health too. As such, it is committed to helping customers navigate life well, wherever their ambitions take them.

How?

The enhanced HSBC Premier offering includes a range of new features designed around the key themes of ‘wealth’, ‘international’ and ‘travel’ – with an additional range of ‘health’ benefits launching next year.

Premier already gives customers access to worldwide travel insurance, preferred products, specialist advice, and a range of exclusive benefits and rewards. Now, customers get even more with the introduction of 24/7 customer service, a new digital planning tool called Future Planner, and an enhanced range of storefront discounts. Subject to fees and eligibility, there’s also specialist wealth advice, tailored wealth solutions, and airmiles, lounge access, hotel and dining offers with the Premier World Elite Credit Card.