In general, businesses use the customer data they access for internal purposes, creating value-added services. Yet, there is greater potential for society as a whole beyond corporate “closed doors.” Public-private sector collaboration using data sources for external initiatives can produce significant benefits. For example, a door could be open that would facilitate the use of data to help fulfill the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

BBVA has invested more than €300 million over the past three years as part of its Community Investment Plan, supporting a total of 24 million people. In 2018 alone, BBVA allocated more than €104 million to social programs that reached eight million people around the world

BBVA Momentum 2019 is the first social entrepreneurship program run by a financial institution in Turkey. Those interested in participating can apply from April 8th through May 6th.

The Juncker Plan, which was launched in 2004, has helped reduce the investment gap caused by the economic and financial crisis. Looking forward to the next decade, Europe should focus on a two-pronged strategy: implementing a greener sustainable investment model and backing key digital capabilities. According to BBVA’s executive board member, José Manuel González-Páramo, Europe must develop a forward-looking sustainable finance model.

Ebru Dildar Edin, Garanti Bank’s Executive Vice President of CIB, was recently re-elected President of Turkey’s Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD). The general assembly of the organization voted in favor of Edin continuing in her role as BCSD President – a position she accepted one year ago. BCSD Turkey is a key member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development network and has spearheaded sustainability initiatives in Turkey’s public and private sectors for the past 15 years.

BBVA secured €11.8 billion in sustainable financing in 2018, the first year of Pledge 2025, the bank’s initiative to combat climate change. This figure includes transactions in green financing (69 percent of the total), sustainable infrastructure and agribusiness (13 percent), and social entrepreneurism and financial inclusion (18 percent).

BBVA secured €11.8 billion in sustainable financing in 2018, the first year of Pledge 2025, the bank’s initiative to combat climate change. This figure includes transactions in green financing (69 percent of the total), sustainable infrastructure and agribusiness (13 percent), and social entrepreneurism and financial inclusion (18 percent).

On March 27 at the CDP Climate Change Conference, CDP, the world’s largest environmental reporting platform announced the 2018 results for Turkey’s Climate Change and Water programs. Garanti Bank sponsored the conference where, as in previous years, it assumed its place among other Turkish CDP leaders receiving their awards.

On Saturday, March 30th, the world came together to celebrate Earth Hour, an initiative promoted by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Entire cities went dark for an hour to raise awareness and urge people to join the global movement in support of the environment and the protection of the planet. BBVA’s HQ in Spain – Ciudad BBVA – as well as other corporate buildings and headquarters in other countries, including Mexico, the U.S., Colombia, Peru, Uruguay or Argentina, also showcased their commitment to sustainability and the fight against climate change.

During March, millions of children and young people will learn how to manage their finances so they can take their economic well-being into their own hands and tap into better opportunities. How does it work? Through initiatives – activities and teaching materials – that have been kicked off for another year by campaigns promoted by Global Money Week (March 25-31) and European Money Week (March 25-29).

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.

CSR Europe and PWC have recognized BBVA for its transparency and best practices in tax issues. At an event in Brussels, this European corporate social responsibility network and the global consulting firm presented a report on the best corporate practices for tax matters. In a world where companies are expected to have a sustainable business in every respect, BBVA was one of the large global companies to present its best practices at the event.

BBVA Group paid €4.5 billion in worldwide tax on its own business activities in 2018, 10 percent more than in 2017. According to BBVA’s Total Tax Contribution Report, its total contribution (which is the total of the bank’s taxes and those made on behalf of third parties) rose to €9.8 billion. Since 2011 BBVA, in accordance with its commitment to transparency with customers, shareholders, employees, and society as a whole, has voluntarily released its tax information.

Access to the arts can play a major role in a city’s quality of life, its tourism efforts and its overall cultural and economic health. Because most organizations that offer that access — through art museums, symphony orchestras, ballet companies and others — are typically non-profit, they must rely heavily on the support and collaboration of patrons and corporate donors who share their vision.

In 2016 Garanti Bank teamed up with Bahçeşehir University to launch ‘Code the Future with Garanti’, an educational program designed to make a positive impact on local communities by preparing children for the digital age. Entering its fourth year, the program will hold a series of workshops in seven cities across Turkey. Its first stop: Istanbul.

Rut Pelaiza has spent her entire life as an example: for her parents, for her daughters, and since five years ago, for the thousands of women in the Palabra de Mujer [Woman’s Word] program run by the Peruvian institution of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation. She recalls that she always wanted to be independent and with pride, shares how she managed to achieve this goal when she grew up.

In 2019, the Business 20 (B20) – considered to be the private sector’s voice of the G20 – is seeking to showcase innovative projects that contribute to the fulfillment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, business members of this advisory body to the G20 have submitted proposals for projects that make a significant social impact. BBVA is the only Spanish bank whose five project submissions are among those selected.

Three startups represented Turkey in Madrid on February 25th – 27th at the final event of the 2018 BBVA Momentum Social Entrepreneurship Support Program – the first social entrepreneurship program designed by a Turkish financial institution.

The time has arrived for a new round of BBVA Momentum! BBVA’s social entrepreneurship program returns in 2019 with its most ambitious target to date: to support 160 social entrepreneurs across Colombia, the United States, Mexico, and Turkey. It aims to foster their growth and increase the positive impact they make on their communities. The candidate application process for the 2019 program closes on April 22.

Beatriz Morilla, Head of CSR at the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), sees financial education as a fundamental tool to “fight poverty, reduce inequalities, promote gender equality and achieve greater health and well-being.” From this global perspective, the AEB is working on the rollout of nationwide impactful actions and on securing support from the financial sector.

The town of Villamayor de Gallegó in the outskirts of Zaragoza will host the wind farm that Enel Green Power Spain will build as part of an agreement with BBVA. The 10 wind turbines in the farm will provide 30% of the energy BBVA consumes in Spain.

BBVA Compass today announced the official opening of applications for BBVA Momentum 2019, a small business program for social entrepreneurs designed to help them achieve scale, enhance operations and multiply the social and economic impact of their business.

On February 25th, BBVA’s Open Space auditorium in Madrid was transformed into a meeting space with the best of the BBVA Momentum ecosystem. The global event completes the 2018 edition of BBVA Momentum, which united the year’s most promising entrepreneurs from Colombia, the U.S., Mexico and Turkey. The entrepreneurs presented their projects and growth plans, and sector experts discussed current issues in the social investment field.

BBVA Momentum, BBVA’s social entrepreneurship support program, will host a global event to showcase the brightest projects of its 2018 edition. These companies, from Colombia, the United States, Mexico and Turkey, have come up with innovative ways to tackle some of today’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.

Lacey Perry is the Branch Retail Executive for the BBVA Compass Shoreline Branch in Corpus Christi, Texas. Owing to its downtown business center location, of the three branches in the city, the Shoreline branch is the one with the least consumer foot traffic. Yet Perry is still the highest performer across all 644 branches in the bank’s retail network.

Over 1,800 participants from the banking industry, governmental authorities, and civil society gathered in Brussels on February 5-6, to take part in what has become the leading forum discussing the future of the European Union’s industry. EU Industry Days 2019, organized by the European Commission, devoted a substantial share of time to social investment and sustainable financing, something that has become an obligation for financial institutions today, according to Antoni Ballabriga, Global Head of Responsible Business, BBVA, who participated in one of the panels.

The European Commission has warmly received the Principles for Responsible Banking. The vice president of the European Commission applauded this UN-sponsored initiative, which BBVA has actively championed since its inception. “It is truly encouraging to witness this initiative. Now is the time to implement them and truly scale up in sustainable finance. We need European banks to lead the way,” explained Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission, at a European Banking Federation forum held on February 5 in Brussels.

The Corporate Network for Diversity and LGBTI inclusion (REDI) is the first corporate association in Spain created to promote an inclusive and respectful environment in organizations, where talent is valued regardless of gender expression or sexual orientation. BBVA is joining the REDI to demonstrate its commitment to diversity.

BBVA Compass Sales and Service Advisor Rebecca Alexis has “nothing but veterans” in her family. It’s one of the biggest reasons she allocates so much of her professional and personal time helping them with her financial expertise.

Banks play a fundamental role in the planet’s sustainability due to their ability to finance sustainable activities and manage risks. This was the main topic discussed at a panel in Davos, Switzerland in which José Manuel González-Páramo participated. BBVA’s Executive Board Member and Head of Global Economics and Public Affairs encouraged all banks to join the Principles for Responsible Banking to press for this change. In his opinion, these principles give banks the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to society.

Japan and Spain, the countries with the world’s highest life expectancies lag furthest behind when it comes to retirement planning, according to a study prepared by insurance company Aegon International. The experts warn about the enormous challenges posed by an aging population and the risks associated with not saving for the future.

BBVA is one of the 230 companies selected for the 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), one of the world’s most relevant indexes on this matter, which distinguishes companies committed to transparency in gender reporting and advancing women’s equality.   Garanti Bank, the Group’s subsidiary in Turkey, has also been selected for the index.

The 9th Edition of Spain Investors Day united 43 listed companies and major investors in a forum that discussed socially responsible investment for the first time. BBVA participated in the round table discussion on the topic.

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

Rolando Arellano Cueva is a renowned market expert specialising in developing countries, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the BBVA Centro para la Educación y Capacidades Financieras [Centre for Financial Resources and Education]. Throughout his lengthy career he has studied people’s natural tendency to constantly acquire goods, the consumer markets of Latin America, and the role that financial entities play in assisting with savings.

The Turkish Women Entrepreneurs Competition recently celebrated its 12th edition. During the ceremony, the first and only one of its kind, the names of the winners of the four award categories – Turkish Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Turkish Woman Entrepreneur Who Made a Difference in Her Region, Most Promising Turkish Woman Entrepreneur and Turkish Woman Social Entrepreneur of the Year – were announced.

Promising yourself to save and end up throwing in the towel is a common thing so a little nudge from time to time is no bad thing. According to the report ‘Nudges for Financial Health: Global Evidence for Improved Product Design’ of Innovations For Poverty Action (IPA), the commitment mechanisms that financial institutions put in place to help their customers are an effective solution for achieving savings once and for all and improving financial health.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), together with the global data company YouGov, has published the first-of-its-kind citizens climate change survey revealing popular beliefs about climate change and its economic impact. The study, which involved 25,000 people in the European Union, the United States, and China, exposes the extent to which the general public is concerned about climate change and what it means to their bottomline.

BBVA joined ING, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Standard Chartered in a joint commitment to adapt their lending portfolio to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.  In an open letter to the global leaders and heads of state currently meeting at the 24th session of Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) in Katowice (Poland), these banks committed to finance and design financial services that are needed to support clients as they transition to a low carbon economy.

The Principles for Responsible Banking were announced in Paris on November 26. BBVA is one of the founding banks involved in this initiative, which forms a part of the United Nations Environmental Programme.

The UN Climate Change Conference, held at the UN’s annual Conference of the Parties (COP), are international meetings that aim to negotiate and and agree the activities that need to be addressed by global climate policy. On the heels of the announcement in Paris of its participation in the UN’s Principles for Responsible Banking, BBVA also joins this global initiative for a sustainable future.

The Principles for Responsible Banking were presented in Paris on November 26. These principles are the result of a joint initiative comprising 28 financial institutions and the United Nations that aims to take on the climate change and sustainability challenges facing society today.

Under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), Garanti joined 27 other global banks at the presentation of the Principles for Responsible Banking in Paris. BBVA owns a 49.85% stake of Garanti – the only Turkish bank participating in this global initiative.

BBVA joined in launching the Principles for Responsible Banking at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) global roundtable in Paris. “With these Principles for Responsible Banking, we are redefining banking’s role in society in order to generate a positive impact on people’s lives,” BBVA’s CEO Carlos Torres Vila stated.

BBVA joins the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and will lit up its Corporate Headquarters to support all women that suffer gender-based violence.

Her Majesty Queen Letizia and BBVA’s Group Executive Chairman Francisco González presented the 10th edition of the Integra Awards at BBVA City (Madrid) this morning. These awards recognizes the accomplishments of organizations that develop workplace integration initiatives for people with disabilities and launch employment generating programs. The five organizations that received this year’s awards are the Juan XXIII Roncalli Foundation, Ilunion Responsible Tourism, the National Confederation of Deaf People, Amimet, and the Mental Health Federation of Castile and León.

BBVA joined forces with 27 other banks and the United Nations to create the Principles for Responsible Banking. This landmark initiative seeks to address the sustainability challenges facing the global finance industry, and transform the sector into a driver of a sustainable future.

BBVA hosted the forum “Energy Transition Opportunities for the Spanish and European economies.” During the event José Manuel González-Páramo, stressed that “At BBVA we highly appreciate the proposed measures, not only the draft legislation on climate change, but those measures that have been taken by other countries (France, Poland, and Ireland) that give sustainable financing a boost by issuing green bonds.”

“Our vision of the world is marked by a sense of urgency, but also by a sense of opportunity. We need to re-imagine the role of banking in society. As banks we have to focus on a mission and creating a positive impact on people’s lives.” These are the words of BBVA’s Global Head of Responsible Business, Antoni Ballabriga, on a panel where he was joined by the European Commission Vice President, Vladis Dombrovskis, during the Sustainable Finance in Nordic-Baltic conference held in Helsinki.

BBVA backs the European network of Financial Centers for Sustainability, which was presented at the Climate Innovation Summit 2018. The annual summit is organized by Climate-KIC and was held in Dublin this year. “At BBVA, we value the creation of this network of centers representing Europe’s most influential cities. The initiative, which has its origins in the United Nations Environment Programme, represents an additional pillar encouraging all key players to get involved in building a more robust and resilient financial system.” asserts Antoni Ballabriga, BBVA’s Global Head of Responsible Business.

Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a metric that helps companies understand customer satisfaction and gauge customer brand loyalty. As metrics go, it’s a relatively simply one that calculates customer responses to the question, “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?”.

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.

BBVA was recognized as a global leader for its corporate responsibility and social investment programs in the latest report of Giving in Numbers, published by The CEO Force for Good. The report is based on the largest survey in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), gathering data from 252 of the world’s largest companies. The report placed BBVA in the top 25% of the most socially committed companies.

Claudio González-Vega, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation and member of the Advisory Board of BBVA’s Center for Financial Education and Capabilities, is one of the world’s leading voices in finance and development, especially in the field of microfinance. For him, financial education is a “vital tool for escaping the poverty trap.”

Olivier Guersent, the European Union’s Director-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and Capital Markets claims individual investors would rather put their money into sustainable development projects, but they need the right skills. Financial education is a part of this empowerment.

Not long ago, in Colombia, nearly half the population lived in poverty. In rural areas, the overwhelming majority. Ten years ago, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation made a commitment to change this reality by creating the country’s first microfinance bank, Bancamía, in collaboration with two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – ‘Corporación Mundial de la Mujer Colombia’ and ‘Corporación Mundial de la Mujer Medellín’.