BBVA case: banking innovation

If we talk about banking innovation, the first thing that comes to mind is the name of BBVA, the best-rated banking entity by the British magazine “The Banker”, in terms of digitalization of banking operations. The pandemic, undoubtedly, marked a before and after in the way of managing these operations because it allowed people to keep their accounts in order from their homes only through the administration of an app.

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After this first BBVA initiative, other banking entities imitated it, which saw value in the digital proposal to meet the needs of customers during the long confinement of the pandemic. However, no one can take the podium from it for having been a pioneer brand in digitizing customer banking processes.

The proposal for this new case study is to learn about the most outstanding aspects of the history of this traditional bank and the current characteristics that make it the most innovative banking entity in the world. Discover the BBVA case.

Historical evolution of BBVA

BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) is a Spanish bank based in Bilbao that has become one of the most important financial institutions in the world with scale in the markets of Spain, Mexico, Turkey, and Argentina.

It was founded as Banco de Bilbao in 1857 and has its headquarters in this same city. Its executive president is Carlos Torres Vila. The initiative to create this bank was driven by the context of economic growth in the region, as a bank of issue and discount.

Later, in 1901, the Banco de Vizcaya was founded as another financial entity focused on commercial activity and deposits. It is involved in the creation and development of a significant portion of the Spanish banking industry, including Hidroeléctrica Ibérica and Hidroeléctrica Española.

The years go by and both banking entities separately continue to grow and add services: Banco de Bilbao increases its size by integrating other banks and begins to develop a financial group. For its part, Banco de Vizcaya is consolidated as a modern universal bank and also forms a financial group.

At the end of the 1980s, the two financial entities finally merged and became one. By 1989 the new entity was renamed BBV. But the financial group made up of Banco Bilbao and Banco Vizcaya later became part of the Argentaria public bank in 1991. Between 1993 and 1998, the entity's privatization process was carried out.

The BBVA Group was born from the merger of BBV and Banca Argentaria to create more value and diversify its frontiers and services, oriented towards the application of technology. Finally, in 2001, the integration process culminated and BBVA was legitimized as a brand.

Its exponential growth as a financial group allowed it to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Mexican Stock Exchange, and the Madrid Stock Exchange.

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BBVA: the most innovative financial institution in the world

The financial institution has been recognized as the best bank in the world for innovation in digital banking, according to the British magazine The Banker, belonging to the Financial Times group. One of the main elements that promoted the distinction is to become the first banking entity to allow its business customers to measure their digital footprint.

During the pandemic scenario, the digital transformation implemented by BBVA represented a competitive advantage that allowed its customers to manage their banking procedures efficiently, quickly, and safely without having to leave their homes.

This helped them promote digital sales and strengthen customer confidence in online banking while contributing to the formation of remote teams aimed at providing advice to customers regarding their most frequent questions.

Becoming the first bank in the world to allow its business customers to measure their carbon footprint has driven digitization in other banking entities that are trying to repeat the successful scheme proposed by BBVA and offer customers the peace of mind that their money, savings in a fixed term and other benefits are in a safe place.

At the same time, BBVA is one of the first banks to implement a crypto trading service through its franchise in Switzerland. In addition, it continues on the path of innovation building value propositions around blockchain technology with the launch of the first bitcoin custody service offered by a bank in Europe.

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Because of its history, because of the merger with several financial entities, because of the innovative implementation of digital services, because of the search for growth and expansion, because of adding value to the customer experience... For all this and much more, the BBVA case stands out for being the most profitable financial entity in recent times worldwide. Known not only in Europe, BBVA is a bank designed for people looking to start a new technological era in the banking industry.