BBVA chairman stated this morning that “investing in the digital ecosystem is investing in our future.” Francisco González is taking part in the Wired Money 2015 summit, held at the British Museum in London, together with prominent figures of the digital ecosystem who are transforming the financial industry.

Between 2011 and 2014, 700 million people opened a bank account. In the same period, the number of people outside the banking system fell by 20%, or 2 billion adults. In 2014, 62% of adults held an account, well above the 54% registered in 2011.

Credit brokerage activities outside the regulated banking system –known as shadow banking– will gradually gain ground in the coming years, and the sector is gearing up to respond to this massive change.

Credit card providers use machine learning techniques to attract new customers, drive up turnover, offer personalized recommendations to users and identify fraudulent operations.

Customer experience, mobility and new business models based on leading fintech startups all form part of a process that many financial institutions are carrying out and these are the seven steps that they should follow in order to achieve success.

Spain has gone from being “a seriously ill patient and a source of contagion for the rest of the euro zone” to implementing “one of the most vigorous reform programs,” in the words of Francisco González. Thanks to the reforms undertaken, “Spain is well positioned to register sustainable growth over the next few years,” he said at the UMIP/APIE course today.

BBVA Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jaime Sáenz de Tejada has been named the best CFO in Europe. There were a total of  100 participants in this category. Likewise, Mr. Sáenz de Tejada has been voted the leading CFO in the European banking sector, out of a total of 93 banks, and first in Spain, a category with 47 participants.