Every day, we ask our brains to make decisions, about what to wear, what to order, which shoes to buy, which route to take to work. Some of these decisions are made so automatically, we aren’t even aware we’re making them. Our brains do that on purpose — relying on shortcuts and preferences — to avoid the continuous ongoing stress of making the same decisions again and again.

BBVA Compass earned a spot on DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity 2019 list, the bank’s second recognition in the U.S. in the last three years.

Mortgage rates recently reached their lowest point in 13 months, leading many homeowners to ask if now is the right time to consider refinancing.

BBVA Compass received a perfect score of 100 on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s premier benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation.  The bank joins the ranks of over 570 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.

In February 2019, BBVA Compass announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta rated it “Outstanding” for CRA performance for its most recent examination period. This three-part series will take a detailed look at the key efforts behind that rating in lending, investment and community giving.

Two young friends on a surfing trip to Bali, shocked by the heaps of plastic they found washed up on the beach, returned to the United States with an entrepreneurial vision to clean the ocean. Their company, 4Ocean, promises to remove one pound of trash from oceans and coastlines with the sale of every one of its $20 bracelets, which are made from recycled plastic and glass bottles. In roughly two years, the venture, which now employs more than 150 people around the planet, reports that it has recovered over 4 million pounds of trash.

Earning an outstanding rating for CRA performance is a rare accomplishment — fewer than 10 percent of banks earn that rating.  For BBVA Compass, it’s a clear reflection of the cultural shift that’s taken place within the organization over the past three years.

BBVA Compass launched its full financial education program for 2019 last week, on the heels of a successful four-month pilot program which wrapped in December, aiming to reach approximately 7,000 more people during its first full year in existence.

According to the latest Economic Outlook published this week by BBVA Research, GDP growth is expected to slow to 2.5 percent in 2019 and 2.0 percent in 2020, while the risk of recession remains elevated over the next 24 months.

BBVA Compass today announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta rated it “Outstanding” for CRA performance for its most recent examination period encompassing 2015 to 2017. The bank achieved “excellent performance” for community development lending and investments, and “high satisfactory” for service, which would translate to an overall “Outstanding” rating.

According to the Economic Outlook published this week by BBVA Research, GDP growth is expected to moderate in 2019, while the risk of recession remains elevated over the next 24 months.

The U.S. total fertility rate continues its downward trend, falling to its lowest point in 48 years at 1.77, according to a white paper published by BBVA Research this week. The report goes on to identify both the cause and the impact of this drop.

In general, banks are able to continue with business as usual during a government shutdown. Accounts can be opened, transactions can be processed, loans can be funded. However, there are some areas that rely heavily on Federal employees in specific situations.

In general, banks are able to continue with business as usual during a government shutdown. Accounts can be opened, transactions can be processed, loans can be funded. However, there are some areas that rely heavily on federal employees in specific situations.

What do you get when you cross a group of agile-trained bankers with a community food bank project? A record-breaking day.

After half a decade of bringing holiday joy and toys to students across the country, the BBVA Compass Foundation’s Project Blue Elf campaign has shifted its focus to surprise and delight families that participate in the bank’s financial education programs.

Like many Americans, you may find your mailbox stuffed with envelopes from banks, credit card providers and other lenders who want to make you an offer. (That includes your email, too.) Those offers may range from a pre-approved offer, to an invitation to apply, to a 4-page application.

BBVA Compass wraps up a four-month pilot program in December designed to provide financial education workshops through partnerships with local nonprofit organizations. Based on the success of the pilot program, the bank plans to execute a full program launch next year.

A new career development program at BBVA Compass is leading to better customer experiences and greater employee engagement on the Mortgage Fulfillment team.

BBVA Momentum, the social enterprise accelerator program launched in Spain and Mexico in 2011, wrapped up its second year in the U.S. in November with 16 entrepreneur participants.

Nothing can prepare you for the loss of a spouse or partner. The emotional burden alone is enough to virtually paralyze even the strongest and most organized people. But the logistics in the aftermath of a death in the family can also be staggering. That’s why it is so important to prepare yourself and your family well in advance.

If you use online or mobile banking, you already know how convenient it is to check your balance, pay a bill or confirm a transaction. But you may not be taking full advantage of all the benefits your mobile banking app can offer.

The BBVA Research team has published its Economic Outlook for fourth quarter 2018, a timely look at the anticipated economic impact of midterm elections.

Social entrepreneur Michelle Corson of Dallas, Texas took home the $75,000 first prize for On the Road Lending, a company which finances fuel-efficient and reliable cars, under warranty, for lower-skilled workers with weak credit at the wrap of BBVA Compass second annual social entrepreneur program BBVA Momentum.

Saving money can feel like a personal triumph (and it should!). To live within your means and set aside funds for a rainy day, major purchase or personal goal is very empowering. But did you know your savings can also impact the country’s economy as a whole?

BBVA Compass teamed up with Experian to give small business owners access to expert advice and insight at a recent national webinar. The online workshop was intended to help small business owners and entrepreneurs navigate the impact of the 2018 tax law change which may permit taxpayers other than corporations to deduct of up to 20 percent of their qualified business income from a qualified trade or business under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Money20/20 USA, the world’s largest fintech and payments event, took place earlier this week in Las Vegas. The annual event, now in its sixth year, touts itself as the place where the payments, fintech and financial services create and explore the ways consumers and businesses manage, spend and borrow money.

If you’re like most people, there’s not much more terrifying than that countdown to Christmas: only 120, 75, 15 days until Christmas. Not only does it trigger the anxiety to both start and finish shopping, it also usually comes with a mild panic about how to fund all those purchases.

Whether it’s your first home or your fourth, the whole mortgage process can be confusing and stressful… so many decisions to make, so much jargon to decipher, so many boxes to initial.

One simple word you may hear is “points”. It sounds like such a simple word, but do you really know what points are?  A point is technically one percent of your mortgage amount, or $1,000 for every $100,000 you finance.

This week, a quick wrap-up of the top fintech stories:

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group this week launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology.

More than 1,800 BBVA Compass employees — plus another 250 friends and family members — joined their BBVA co-workers across the globe to participate in the bank’s Week of Volunteering September 24-30.  Employees across the footprint participated in 189 individual events, including Habitat for Humanity projects, food bank initiatives, community clean up efforts, and financial education workshops for individuals and small businesses.

The BBVA Compass Mobile Banking App is now in its ninth year, and the award-winning app continues to improve functionality with each new release, including its latest update announced last week.

The American Heart Association recently announced the results of its 2018 Workplace Health Achievement Index, a comprehensive annual survey that uses science-based and evidence-informed methods to evaluate the overall effectiveness of workplace health programs across the nation.

BBVA Compass recently launched its Center for Financial Education Community Workshops Initiative, with the goal of giving 20,000 low- to moderate-income individuals, families and small business owners the knowledge they need to take better control of their financial lives.

Your credit score. Just three little numbers that can impact your credit card interest rate, how much you can borrow, and sometimes even whether you’re qualified to borrow money or not.

Understanding money seems simple enough, right? You earn it, you owe it, you spend it. Simple. But studies show that people who take the time to learn and understand some basic financial information are better off now and more likely to achieve their short- and long-term financial goals in the future.

Like most IT professionals, the engineering team at BBVA Compass loves the challenge and teamwork of a good hackathon.  These condensed collaborative coding events were the inspiration for the inaugural BBVA Compass Ninja Hackathon, which included both bank employees and students from the University of Alabama Birmingham.

Like other customer-centric companies, BBVA Compass uses large amounts of data — “big data” — to drive its customer understanding and its customer experiences.  And while the bank’s shift to its new big data platform will make data collection easier, the process still requires data analysts who can make sense of all that information.

Labour’s share of national income has dropped in most of the developed countries and emerging economies in the past few decades. This trend is not common across industries: the share of income accounted for by wages has seen an increase in the service industry, while it has recorded a fall in the other industries.

Money isn’t very valuable if you can’t spend it. And during disaster situations — from tornados to ice storms and everything in between — a power outage could leave you feeling penniless, without access to ATMs, online or mobile banking, or debit card transactions.

Based on a quick online search, you might think building a professional brand is a simple three-step process involving social media of some kind. The fact is, a professional brand is nothing more than a good, old-fashioned reputation. And whether you deliberately created it or not, you already have one.

BBVA Compass has put its innovative design thinking methodology to work, solving a real-world problem outside its own four walls. Using a common refrain among those who provide response and relief to disasters: all disasters are local. But the increase in the incidence of natural disasters worldwide since the 1970s has made it increasingly difficult for local communities to handle disaster response on their own.

In recent months, concerns surrounding the financial health of the business sector have been on the rise. In particular, market participants are worried that higher price pressures, faster monetary policy normalization, and a trade war, amid stretched valuations, could trigger a significant decline in risk appetite. This would lead to higher borrowing costs and tighter financial conditions.

Technically, big data is no different than any other data, there’s just more of it. After all, gathering data is nothing new. We all have birth certificates, marriage licenses, insurance cards, and our grandparents had those same things decades ago… even without computers. The difference today is the sheer volume of data and the ways that data can be collected and analyzed.

Political concerns in Italy and the intensification of geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Turkey set a cautious tone in financial markets last week. The tone was not alleviated by the possibility of an easing in trade disputes between China and U.S.

As the trade war between China and the U.S. continues to escalate, both sides exchanged salvos in early July with the U.S. imposing 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion worth of imports from China, followed by a similar response from China.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s most recent Mixed Media event extended beyond its typical venue to include BBVA Compass Roof Garden, Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza, and Cullen Sculpture Garden to celebrate the newly opened Glassell School of Art and outdoor public spaces.

At the bottom of every check you write and every check you cash or deposit, you’ll find a long string of numbers: nine digits, then a colon followed by eight more digits, one more colon and another four digits. But what do those 21 numbers really mean?

LOL. BRB. AFK. BTW. IMHO. Social media and texting have made this kind of alphabet soup ubiquitous. But what about FDIC?  You see those letters on nearly every bank branch and every bank website you visit. But what do those letters mean? What do they even stand for?