Alicia Pertusa, head of Client Solutions Strategy at BBVA, has been involved in the different ‘blockchain’ research projects and pilots that BBVA has carried out over the past five years. The launch of its first bitcoin transaction and custody service in Switzerland was a landmark achievement for BBVA. The rollout was made possible thanks to the regulatory framework set up by the Helvetian country, which provides a unique opportunity to explore innovation in digital asset management. In this interview, Pertusa explains how this service is just a first step in an area that is going to have a direct impact on how we exchange not only money, but also any valuable asset or piece of information.

The European Banking Federation recently organized a conference on innovation and cybersecurity where the role of banks in the digital economy and platform economy was discussed, among other topics. According to BBVA, the key to ensuring that financial services benefit from this economy is the creation of a framework for the different types of participating companies to compete fairly.

Speaking at IIF Digital Interchange meeting, BBVA Group Executive Chairman Carlos Torres Vila said that the lockdown as a result of the pandemic boosted pre-existing trends toward the adoption of new technologies, towards digital. In his opinion, digital inclusion suppports all types of inclusion: educational, social and economic. That is why society needs to make an effort to ensure that no one’s left behind. “I think what stands out is the need for a more sustainable and a more inclusive economy. For this, we need a policy and regulatory environment that fosters innovation,” he noted.

Investment in growth in the European Union is less now than it was before the last financial crisis, despite the many modern-day challenges: the digital revolution, climate change, an aging population, migration, to name a few. José Manuel González-Páramo discussed this issue at the Rome Investment Forum held in the Italian capital. The BBVA executive board member stressed that long term investment capacity in Europe should focus on two crucial challenges: adapting to a more sustainable growth model and investing in strategic digital capabilities.

BBVA has named the winner of its newly created Open Talent Award for Sustainability as Australian last mile start-up AgUnity.

Large technology companies, or bigtech, have a large customer base, access to a massive volume of data and financial strength. While banks also have some of these attributes, it is the network effect technologies that companies benefit from that could ultimately undermine data-fueled innovation that is causing regulators and businesses alike concern. According to Santiago Fernández de Lis, the Head of Regulation at BBVA, if we want to ensure the continued growth, innovation and sustainability of the digital economy, we need to shift our approach to regulation from a national, sectoral approach to a truly cross-border and intersectoral approach.

In an Op-Ed article published in the Financial Times, BBVA Group’s executive chairman Carlos Torres Vila has called on the next European Commission, which will take office in November 2019, to prioritise cross-sector data sharing regulations to fuel the fast growing digital economy.

Thanks to DiGiX 2018, BBVA Research’s multidimensional digitization index, it is possible to compare which countries are the most advanced in this area, and discover their strengths and weaknesses. The index analyzes the economies of 99 different countries.  Top in the ranking are Luxembourg, the U.S. the Netherlands, Singapore and Hong Kong, while Malaysia, South Africa, Chile and Costa Rica are regional leaders.

Financial authorities will soon begin an unprecedented countdown. In 2018, fintech became an entrenched priority for the financial sector, and a multitude of strategies emerged to address the challenges of digitization. In 2019, financial authorities should take action and implement a global approach to the challenges of the new era. This is the conclusion detailed in BBVA Research’s latest report, ‘Financial Regulation Outlook 1Q19’.

The conference “Decentralized World” was recently held at BBVA’s Open Space in Madrid, focusing on the decentralization of the economy and trying to unravel some of the possibilities that blockchain technology can offer for data management in the future.

BBVA had the opportunity to share with the European Commission (EC) its vision of the cybersecurity challenges facing the financial sector. It provided its insight in a report submitted by the working group, ECIL (European Cybersecurity Industry Leaders), where the bank participates alongside companies from different sectors.

The digital revolution has social consequences that must be understood and managed. Nobel Laureate in Economics Joseph Stiglitz says the key is to ensure that inequality does not increase.

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.

BBVA’s executive chairman Francisco González took part in a presentation in Madrid of Dr. Peter Weill’s new book, ‘What’s Your Digital Business Model?’ Professor Weill is chair and senior research scientist for the Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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.

Answering this question is not easy. Academics and financial industry representatives met to discuss whether it would be appropriate for central banks to issue digital currencies. In the forum, BBVA executive board member, José Manuel González-Páramo, indicated that he believes it is probable that central banks will issue cryptocurrencies in the years ahead.  Future advances in blockchain technology will open the way to its use by financial authorities.

A major superstore chain is making waves in the world of fintech news this week, lending to some interesting developments for an Oakland-based startup.

The word “gig” comes from musical jargon and refers to a performance by a musical group. When applied to the working world, the concept refers to sporadic jobs of limited duration. The person hired to do the job is responsible for fulfilling a specific role within a project.

Where do most internet users go online from? What devices do they use? How often do they upgrade their smartphones? This a snapshot of the current internet and smartphone use habits across the planet.

Can Big Tech take the place of banks in the financial services sector? According to Francisco González in his op-ed article in today’s edition of Financial Times, while the Big Tech’s threat is widely known, digitization opportunities for some banking institutions are less evident. BBVA Group Executive Chairman is confident that “we have what it takes to redesign banking and to bring about the next stage of this industry’s evolution.”

Consensus, the Coindesk conference held a week ago in New York, once again showed expectations generated by blockchain and cryptoassets are at their height. More than 8,400 professionals and investors attended the event, which last year had 2,200 visitors.

Data is often cited as being the new oil when it comes to the question of what is the world’s most valuable resource.

A little more than two years after its approval by the European Parliament, the new European Regulation on Data Protection or GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will go into effect on May 25, 2018. It is not just another regulatory change: it is the most important change to European data regulation in 20 years and involves new rights for consumers, such as the right to be forgotten and the right to data portability. It also strengthens the concept of consent.

The creation of a Single European Market without borders or customs duties is considered one of the greatest achievements of the European Union. The common market is now 25 years old and finds itself at a moment of crucial change in which digital disruption requires new products and services to be regulated.

BeCoN is an acronym coined by PwC researchers to refer collectively to the three new forms of capital – behavior capital, cognitive capital and network capital – that they say in a report entitled ‘The Bionic Company’ are becoming increasingly crucial in the current economy.

BBVA backed Garanti Bank, in cooperation with Turkish Central Bank and TUBITAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, has sponsored the first Blockchain Workshop in Turkey.

The BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability has launched the first ‘Call for Expressions of Interest,’ an initiative aimed at fostering academic research in financial education and inclusion. This first edition will focus on six areas that address different global issues from diverse perspectives.

Over 300 businessmen Monday took part in a meeting in Bilbao of the Business 20 (B20) –a corporate forum of the G20. The companies present at the meeting are at the vanguard of digitalization and industry 4.0. At the start of the event, José Manuel González-Páramo, BBVA Executive Board member and vice president of one of the B20 task forces, called for “greater cooperation between the public and private sectors” to meet the challenges posed by the new digital economy.