The wealth management sector is a unique area of the financial industry. Like two merging streams, it can easily blur the lines of consumer and business banking, and mix it into a quickly moving entity that changes at every curve.

BBVA Garanti has become the first bank worldwide to complete integration of the new SWIFT GPI pre-validation service, an international money transfer service developed by SWIFT. Controlled testing of the service is ongoing.

Internet sales have soared in recent months, resulting in growth in the ecommerce sector. But if new purchasing habits are to truly take root and survive in the post COVID-19 reality, businesses will have to carefully nurture the customer buying experience. Against this backdrop, artificial intelligence (AI) is not only a tool to help improve the user experience and increase customer satisfaction, it can also facilitate payment management and detect potential fraud.

In January, more than 250 leaders from across BBVA USA gathered in Houston to hear from management about the bank’s new 5-year strategic plan. Anybody in attendance will tell you it was a great meeting that generated palpable excitement about the bank’s future in the U.S.

If variety is the spice of life, then consider the inaugural BBVA USA Global Wealth Advisory Council a well-seasoned collection of wealth management professionals. A council made up of sales and support professionals in the BBVA USA Global Wealth and BBVA Securities, Inc. teams, the group’s main focus in its first year has been to brainstorm and cultivate unique solutions and collaboratively recommend constructive suggestions for improvement across the board.

BBVA USA announced today that it has begun the process of reopening its branch lobbies, originally closed in mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With BBVA set to open 15 new branches across Texas in early 2021, the bank enters a new era that blends digital banking with face-to-face interactions even further.

BBVA USA announced today that it has received approval to open 15 new branches across Texas, the bank’s largest market in its U.S. footprint.

BBVA USA today announced the launch of two digital updates designed to strengthen financial freedom. The bank launched its new mobile banking app, Mobile 9.0, and expanded transaction detail screen in mobile and online banking, both aimed at leveraging the bank’s technology expertise to provide a better experience and more control for customers.

A recent article by MIT Sloan Management Review highlighted the innovations in data wrapping that companies like BBVA and PepsiCo are pushing into the markets.

In late March, BBVA USA announced that it would be closing most of its 637 branch lobbies and instead serving customers through its drive-thrus, among other modifications. The changes, put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and for the safety of its clients, is now reaching its two month anniversary.

BBVA in Switzerland has launched a new online platform in record time, targeting prospective customers who are interested in opening an account. They can now confirm their identity over a video call and digitally sign the contract required to open the account.

Late Friday, BBVA USA sent up its own version of the bat signal to more than 600 Branch Retail Executives (BREs) across its seven-state footprint, asking who among them was willing to be a superhero on Saturday.

While banks across the country struggle to keep up with the onslaught of loan applications from small businesses racing to access Paycheck Protection Program funds, employees at BBVA USA found a unique solution: volunteers.

When the pandemic relief legislation known as the CARES Act passed in late March, BBVA USA recognized that an online application for the Act’s Payroll Protection Program (PPP) would be the best way to expedite funding and ensure the safety and health of its customers and employees.

As small businesses across the country struggle with challenges from decreased sales to mandatory shut-downs tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, BBVA USA employees worked fervently to ensure the bank was one of the first in the U.S. to accept applications for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program.

BBVA continues taking security measures to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Spain. Starting this Tuesday, the bank is operating its branches with 20 percent of its workforce, guaranteeing service in all municipalities where it has a presence.  This measures aims to protect the health of customers and employees, following the recommendations of healthcare authorities.

In early-February, BBVA USA introduced its new 5-year strategic plan, underscored by six pillars that are guiding the bank globally. 

Growth, particularly profitable growth, is the lifeblood of long lasting – and more often than not – the most innovative companies.

Shortly after being recognized by Global Finance magazine for its cash and treasury management services, BBVA USA earned another pair of awards today from financial industry research firm Greenwich Associates.

BBVA USA’s Global Wealth team saw a continued growth in customer satisfaction in 2019, reporting solid Net Promoter Score via its Voice of the Client Experience Program.

Holvi, the BBVA-owned digital banking specialist for self-employed business owners, has announced it is expanding into its third core market – the United Kingdom.

The new Fast Identity Online (FIDO) standard reinforces the security of online identity authentication systems on mobile devices and web applications. Its goal is to replace the exclusive use of passwords with more secure biometric authentication mechanisms that are protected by encryption systems.

Head of Commercial and Wealth Rafael Bustillo has been a leading force in the evolution of banking in his 30-plus years at BBVA. But, it’s the future that he’s most excited about. In the following interview, Bustillo gave his thoughts about the challenges and opportunities facing the bank’s Commercial & Wealth team in the coming year.

The digital app market is evolving. In Asia and Latin America, the so-called super apps – standalone apps capable of offering everything that users need – are already a reality.  Financial services are one of the cornerstones on which these apps are building their ecosystems, which feature everything from social networking, to food delivery or transport booking features.

In this installment on how BBVA USA’s Head of Retail Banking Murat Çağri Süzer helped BBVA USA achieve notable branch productivity over the course of two years, we take a look at the importance of digitizing products for increased convenience and efficiency for both customers and branch employees.

Garanti BBVA Executive Vice President Didem Dinçer Başer joined the Women in Technology (Wtech) Association at their inaugural event, ‘Human Diversity in Technology.’ The Wtech Association aims to increase the number of women in technology by helping them fulfill their potential and advocating for equal opportunities. Didem Dinçer Başer participated in a panel entitled ‘Future with Technology’ where she discussed the future of digital banking and ever-changing customer expectations.

Forbes contributor Blake Morgan highlighted in a recent article that digital transformation and customer experience go hand in hand. She goes on to share 100 statistics that demonstrate the growth and importance of digital transformation and its impact on customer experience, as well as the digital challenges and opportunities that companies are likely to face in the future.

The BBVA’s Turkish unit has a long history with digital transformation and continues to break new ground. The evolving role of bank branches plays a big part in this transformation – a topic that was discussed in depth at the RBR Bank Transformation Conference in London.

The Garanti BBVA mobile application uses biometric authentication technology to provide customers a better user experience and increased security. The bank’s customers’ warm response — registering more than 800,000 activations using iris recognition per month— validates the bank’s investment in the technology.

In mid-September, BBVA Open Platform announced that it was working with Catch to provide banking and payment services for gig workers.

Ask anybody which search engine they use to find an answer online, and chances are good, they’ll say Google. In fact, the search engine has become synonymous with searching; so much so that Webster’s Dictionary has included it as a verb, as in “We googled what Google is.” Talk about meta.

Garanti BBVA is partnering with BELBİM Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri A.Ş., to go the extra mile when it comes to innovation. Garanti BBVA’s  mobile app can now be used to refill Istanbul travel cards, allowing customers to move around the city without worrying about the balance on their card.

BBVA USA has been named the 2019 CX Leader for U.S. Commercial Middle Market Banking, according to the research-based financial consulting firm Greenwich Associates.

BBVA has achieved a critical milestone in its drive towards digital banking after passing the 50 percent mobile banking tipping point for customers. The news means more than half of BBVA’s active customers worldwide now engage with the bank via mobile devices, and through mobile channels like its world-leading mobile banking app.

With the advent of big data, banks like BBVA are better able to harness the power of information to improve customer experience and provide advice, products and services – all personalized to your unique situation.

The world of banking is continuing to undergo a paradigm shift in terms of the way it operates and the products and services it delivers. BBVA’s Global Head of New Digital Businesses (NDB), Ian Ormerod, outlines the strategies NDB enacts to build the future of banking, and how uncertainty is a key driver for its growth.

BBVA has again been named as one of the world’s leading financial institutions when it comes to open banking. The accolade comes as part of the Open Banking Report 2019, published by online banking experts The Paypers and Innopay. The authors of the report also interviewed BBVA’s Global Head of Open Banking, Carlos López Moctezuma, drawing on his insights to explain best practice in the sector around the core themes.

The roll-out of networks with speeds far superior to 4G will improve customer experience and allow for real time information processing, making communications more secure.

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

In February 2019, BBVA USA’s parent company disclosed in its earnings presentation that BBVA USA’s branch productivity increased by 40 percent over two years, making the regional bank one of the fastest growing in its segment.

Since SWIFT gpi was launched in 2017, BBVA has managed three million transactions – equivalent to €2 trillion – using this international payment standard. BBVA staunchly supports this global payment mechanism, which delivers speed and transparency to cross-border payments. Now SWIFT gpi aims to offer instant payments.

BBVA Net Cash USA Mobile was named a winner in the 2019 Bank Customer Experience (BCX) Awards, taking first place in the Best Mobile/Online Experience (financial institutions) category. BBVA USA was recognized for the award at the Bank Customer Experience Summit in Chicago in September, along with honorees who received awards in three other categories.

Garanti BBVA continues to contribute to the Turkish national economy by providing exporters the expert guidance they need to break into new markets.

BBVA has a global program designed to create personalized, data-driven experiences to cater for the individual saving needs of its customers, either through recommendations, advice or proactive steps. After launching this kind of solution in Spain and Mexico, BBVA is now working to bring this program to the other countries in which it operates.

Antonio Macías (Madrid,1973) is Head of Payment Methods, Digital Transformation at BBVA Spain. Previously, he has been Head of Payment Method Strategy and Transformation.

Nowadays, a small business, in addition to offering a quality product, needs to have at its disposal the best solutions for the day-to-day. The department led by Antonio Macías works to offer solutions that enable businesses to adapt to consumers who have evolved in the way that they come into contact with a business and in the way they pay for their purchases.

The digital onboarding process based on biometric identification technologies, which is already available in Spain, will now reach other countries thanks to the reuse of globally designed components.

Gonzalo Rodriguez Rodriguez is the global head of Customer Solutions at BBVA – the business unit charged with building the future of consumer financial services for the bank. In this interview, Gonzalo outlines where he sees the future of banking heading, and how far along that path BBVA currently is.

Mark Zacheis is the head of BBVA Global Wealth operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth market – an area saturated with wealthy families and individuals. In fact, the DFW area was deemed as one of the top ten wealthiest places in the entire world, according to a ranking from Wealth-X in early January.