The World Health Organization promotes Breast Cancer Day every October 19 to  raise awareness about the commitment of society as a whole to the fight against the most common form of cancer in women. For yet another year, BBVA is organizing a fundraising campaign via Bizum, the leading instant payments solution in Spain, to encourage customer donations in support of the Spanish Association Against Cancer. As an additional gesture of solidarity, this morning, the bank lit up its headquarter buildings in Madrid, La Vela, in pink.

Garanti BBVA Leasing has consistently offered the best financial solutions. It is now moving to strengthen its solar energy service offering by signing a partnership agreement with Başarı Enerji, one of the leading companies in the sector.

A higher level of financial education in African American communities in the U.S. translates into higher economic well-being, according to the study “Financial Literacy and Wellness among African Americans” by Paul J. Yakoboski from TIAA Institute, and Annamaria Lusardi and Andrea Hasler from the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC).  However, not everyone has the same access to quality financial literacy in the country.

BBVA Asset Management has announced the 27 winning projects of the second round of awards granted by the BBVA Sustainable Future SRI fund. In total, the fund manager will donate more than one million euros to NGOs throughout Spain.

BBVA’s educational project ‘Aprendemos juntos’ (We learn together) was launched on January 22, 2018 in collaboration with Spanish daily El País. Since then, it has met with one success after another. Over two and half years, more than 200 experts have worked on the ‘Aprendemos Juntos’ initiative, it has accumulated over one billion views, and it has brought together a community of four million people. On May 23rd of this year, ‘Aprendemos Juntos’ went one step further and premiered on the Spanish TV show ‘A mi yo adolescente’ (To My Teenage Self), a nine-episode series on TVE’s channel 2 that looks at what young people think about issues such as friendship, fear and love.

On the occasion of the United Nations’ 75th anniversary, Garanti BBVA signed the Declaration of Business Leaders, sealing its commitment towards creating a fairer, more sustainable and more inclusive world, as well as to take on current global challenges.

On September 25, 2015, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, representatives from 193 countries approved the Agenda 2030. Pivotal to the agenda, the UN defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets – which were announced during the signing ceremony – that address a broad range of issues, from extreme poverty to climate change, and promote both education quality and gender equality, peace or responsible consumption. To commemorate the occasion, BBVA lit up in blue (in homage to the United Nations) its flagship La Vela building in its corporate headquarters in Madrid.

More than a third of the global banking industry has signed the Principles for Responsible Banking, which this month celebrates its one-year anniversary. This milestone demonstrates the sector’s commitment to sustainability and aligning its business activity to the promises made in the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Garanti BBVA Leasing continues to build on its support for renewable energy development. Most recently, the bank has signed a partnership agreement with Elin Enerji, one of Turkey’s most important energy companies

U.S. banks have a decisive role to play in minimizing their customers’ growing financial uncertainty. The time has come for the banking industry in the United States to become more involved in improving the financial health of its customers. This is one of the main conclusions set forth in the study “Making Outcomes Matter: An immodest Proposal for a New Consumer Financial Regulatory Paradigm” by researchers Todd H. Baker (Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law and Public Policy) and Corey Stone (Financial Health Network).

In order to bring relevant solutions to investors in solar energy projects, Garanti BBVA Leasing announced the signing of a partnership agreement with Elseroof Enerji and Heran Enerji, two leading companies in this sector.

BBVA and the Korean energy company, SK Innovation, have signed a working capital loan of €100 million to expand the company’s electric vehicle battery manufacturing facilities in Europe. This transaction is the first working capital loan certified by BBVA in Asia in compliance with its sustainable transaction banking framework.

The Business Monitor of Corporate Reputation (MERCO) recognized BBVA Mexico for fourth year running as the country’s most reputable bank. The lender also took sixth place in the overall ranking of companies. In addition, BBVA Mexico vice president and CEO Eduardo Osuna Osuna took sixth in the list of ‘Mexico’s 100 Most Reputable Executives’ published by the same consultancy.

The bank — which has committed to securing €100 billion in sustainable financing between 2018 and 2025 as part of its contribution in the fight against climate change — reached 40 percent of its sustainable financing target in June 2020. This figure includes transactions in green and social financing (62 percent of the total), social entrepreneurism and financial inclusion (13 percent), sustainable infrastructure and agribusiness (11 percent), and other sustainable sources (14 percent).

– INFOGRAPHIC: Here you can see the breakdown of the BBVA Commitment 2025

BBVA secures more than €40 billion in sustainable finance, supporting the fight against climate change. The bank — which has committed to securing €100 billion in sustainable financing between 2018 and 2025 as part of its contribution in the fight against climate change — reached 40 percent of its sustainable financing target in June 2020. This figure includes transactions in green and social financing (62 percent of the total), social entrepreneurism and financial inclusion (13 percent), sustainable infrastructure and agribusiness (11 percent), and other sustainable sources (14 percent).

Euromoney has named Garanti BBVA ‘Best Bank in Central and Western Europe in Sustainable Finance’. The bank is a known leader in sustainable development thanks to its innovative practices.

The 9th of August is the day the United Nations honors the indigenous people for their efforts in protecting biodiversity and a millenium-old culture. They comprise 6% of the world’s population but their territory houses 80% of the planet’s biodiversity. Indigenous communities possess valuable knowledge on how to preserve the environment and care for natural resources. However, they face challenges that put their survival at risk, such as the lack of basic services like health -especially during the COVID-19 pandemic- or access to finance. Among other obstacles that hinder their progress is the lack of infrastructure, but the language barrier is also significant.

CW Enerji, Europe’s largest solar power system manufacturer, has signed an agreement with Garanti BBVA Leasing, one of the industry’s leading leasing companies. As part of the framework agreement, tailored financial support will be offered to clients for the installation of solar-powered electric energy stations.

Vestel Şirketler, a part of the Zorlu Group, is making progress in its sustainability strategy with Turkey’s first issuance of a green bond in Turkish Lira. With the issuance, the Group moves closer to fulfilling its strategy as integrated in its Smart Life 2030 initiative (Akıllı Hayat 2030).

BBVA’s Center for Financial Education and Capability’s grant program has selected the financial education research projects that will receive financing this year. One of the novelties of this edition is that seven grants will be given this year, instead of five like in previous years. A total of 40 projects from 23 countries were presented.

Garanti BBVA Leasing and Smart Energy, one Turkey’s largest solar power project developers, sign a strategic alliance to offer financing to investors interested in this sector.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis is laying bare existing social and economic gaps across the globe. According to a paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, minority-owned businesses have a poorer financial health, and are struggling more under posed by the global pandemic.

Spain finished first in the final of the international competition, European Money Quiz 2020, an initiative organized by national banking associations in Europe and coordinated by the European Banking Federation (EBF). Mateo González Villar, a student at Mirabal School in Madrid, managed to emerge victorious in a highly competitive contest in which 29 finalists participated from 22 European countries.

Money isn’t everything; supporting communities, visibility, training, and strategic support are the key pillars of the BBVA Momentum program. This is one of the conclusions coming out of the panel, ‘BBVA Momentum: Support for Social Entrepreneurs,’ organized by The Next Web in collaboration with the Financial Times, and in which BBVA’s social entrepreneurship support initiative has been featured for best practices. María Erquiaga, global head of BBVA Momentum and Arancha Martínez, founder of Itwillbe.org and participant in the 2017 Momentum program, shared an online platform to stress the growing importance of sustainability in entrepreneurial ventures and the value of social innovation with an impact.

An agricultural engineer, a painter, a baker, a shoemaker, Jorge Domínguez is a modern day “Renaissance Man.” He is also a 63 year old Venezuelan migrant in Pamplona, Colombia that fled his country three years ago in search of a better life for his family.

Vulnerable population groups are bearing the brunt of the global pandemic and need more economic support measures. These are some of the ideas set forth by Mayada El-Zhoghbi. El-Zhoghbi, Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion  (CFI) and new member of the Advisory Board of the BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability, who also advocates for, among other measures, equal access to financial services.

The British magazine presented BBVA’s Turkish franchise the award for ‘The best bank in Turkey in sustainable finance’ and ‘The best investment bank in Turkey’.

BBVA’s unit in Turkey, national leader in innovative loan structuring, has agreed a ‘gender loan’ with four tourism businesses within the Limak Grubu consortium. The loan’s interest rates are indexed to criteria evaluating equal opportunities across the group’s entire workforce.

BBVA’s unit in Switzerland, together with Urban Connect, will debut their corporate fleet of e-bikes to be shared among the bank’s Zurich-based employees.

The BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability’s grant program for financial education researchers, BBVA EduFin Research Grants, continues to grow each year. Despite the crisis caused by the global pandemic, the call for applicants saw a greater geographic reach, making this year the most international yet. The overall number of applications also increased.

CDP, the world’s leading environmental information platform, celebrates a decade in Turkey. Garanti BBVA is one of the platform’s key partners in the country. The organization recently held the ‘Turkish CDP Climate Leadership’ award conference to recognize the environmental efforts of the country’s businesses.

The King and Queen of Spain held two meetings with entrepreneurs. Arancha Martínez, the founder of Itwillbe.org, and Pablo Santaeufemia, the founder of Bridge for Billions also participated in the meetings. Both participated in the 2017 edition of BBVA Momentum, BBVA’s program in support of social entrepreneurship. The meetings addressed the social and economic challenges that lie ahead, and the solutions entrepreneurs are proposing to overcome them.

Ebru Dildar Edin, Executive Vice President of Corporate and Investment Banking at Garanti BBVA participated in the seminar ‘The Changing Future of Work,’ where she emphasized the role sustainability will play in establishing a new, improved normal.

BBVA has now earmarked the €35 million donation it committed to support COVID-19 relief. The lion’s share of the funds (81 percent) were allocated to defend against the virus’ initial hit in medical centers and hospitals.

BBVA is the only Spanish bank to have signed a declaration calling for the need to include investing in renewable energy in the economic reconstruction plan proposed by the European Commission. It is one of the private sector’s latest calls to action to governments that are “committed to a green recovery, once the worst of the COVID-19 crisis is over.”

BBVA’s Turkish unit is on the frontlines in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Emergency field hospitals in Sancaktepe and at the Atatürk airport have received locally manufactured medical equipment.

June 15 marks the end of the submission phase of the third edition of BBVA EduFin Research Grants, the research grant program promoted by the BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability to support the efforts of experts and researchers focusing in the field of financial education and inclusion. The program represents a unique opportunity to secure the level of funding and the visibility that many projects need to keep making progress.

To know that they help improve people’s lives is what encourages Roberta, Fernanda, Omar, Yuriem and Teresa to face the day. As part of more than 4,000 microfinance officers of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) in five Latin American countries, they reach places where others don’t go, to make financial services more accessible to low-income entrepreneurs who need only an opportunity to develop their livelihoods.

BBVA invested 77.6 million euros in knowledge, education and culture activities in 2019, about 68 percent of the Group’s social investments. These initiatives, carried out as part of BBVA’s Community Investment Plan, benefitted 7.2 million people.

Garanti BBVA has rolled over the syndicated loan it received from international markets under the framework of the foreign borrowing program and signed loan agreements totalling approximately $700 million. Both the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) participated in the deal.

Ebru Dildar Edin, Vice President of Garanti BBVA, participated in a talk organized by Turkey’s Business Council for Sustainable Development (SKD Türkiye) to discuss the social challenges following the coronavirus pandemic.

The global pandemic is devastating millions of people’s finances worldwide. How can the consequences of the crisis be addressed? Experts consulted by the BBVA Center for Education and Financial Capability point to financial education as a fundamental way to build crisis-proof finances.

As part of BBVA’s Community Investment Plan, BBVA has allocated €9.8 million to entrepreneurship initiatives, benefiting 2.2 million people in 2019. It is therefore fulfilling its commitment to entrepreneurship as the driver of opportunities for people, creating a positive impact on their lives in all countries where BBVA has a presence.

BBVA’s financial education programs and initiatives have benefited 15.5 million people from 2008-2019, of which 13.1 million are children and youth. According to the PISA report on financial skills presented by the OECD today, Spanish youth have improved in these skills, but continue to be below average compared to the countries included in the analysis.

The BBVA’s Center for Financial Education and Capability has decided to extend the deadline for its call for research proposals until June 15th.

Queen Letizia joined the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) on a videoconference to discuss how COVID-19 is impacting Latin American micro-enterprises and to learn about the measures the foundation has put in place via its entities in the five countries it operates (Colombia, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Panama).

BBVA has joined the manifiesto ‘Green Recovery. Reboot and reboost our economies for a sustainable future’, promoted by the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Pascal Canfin. This alliance defends a sustainable recovery from the coronavirus crisis, and is comprised of politicians, businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and unions, among others. “In order to tackle the challenge of a quick recovery, we should start with a more sustainable development model,” said BBVA Group executive chairman Carlos Torres Vila.

Maintaining financial health once the lockdown is over will be important for our savings goals and for having a financial cushion that makes it possible to handle any emergency, thus ensuring peace of mind with respect to financial matters. That’s why it’s a good idea to continue some of the habits that have become widespread during the lockdown, habits that have proven effective for saving money.

Donations from BBVA employees around the world to fight coronavirus have reached one million euros. As part of its campaign ‘Your contribution is worth double’, BBVA has matched the amount donated by each employee, for a total of two million euros. The donation will be used to purchase healthcare materials, to support vulnerable communities across the bank’s footprint, and to research a cure for the disease. At the outset of the crisis, BBVA announced that it would contribute 35 million euros to fight the pandemic. This figure includes the bank’s one million euro contribution to the campaign in solidarity against COVID-19.