Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, also referred to as alternative lending, came into being a decade ago in order to make traditional financial industry services more available to the ordinary citizen.

Since then, the sector has entered a phase of permanent transformation, and the initial idea to “steal” lending business from banks has given way to another concept: partnerships. The sector has now partnered with banks to reach persons with few possibilities to obtain loans due to lack of a credit history or other limitations.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and BBVA today announced they will expand their partnership to collaborate in various fields related to banking in Latin America.

Slow recovery of commodity prices and weak economic activity have affected tax revenue. This has lead to adjustments in government spending in many Latin American economies. Therefore, despite some recovery in commodity prices over recent months, BBVA Research has lowered its growth outlook for the region to an expected contraction of -1.1% in 2016. In its Latin America Economic Outlook report on the second quarter, BBVA Research affirms that it does expect to see 1.7% growth in 2017.

BBVA Executive Director recognized the value of the progress made toward European integration at the Institute of International Finance’s (IIF) Spring Meeting, hosted in Madrid.  “The banking union is a great leap forward, but we need to move forward furthering European integration,” said José Manuel González-Páramo in a panel focusing on the future of Europe.

In his address during the Institute of International Finance’s Spring Meeting in Madrid, BBVA Executive Chairman Francisco González stressed that opening the technological platforms to collaboration with startups and a progressive cloud migration will be critical to the future of the banking sector.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) today held its first Regtech Innovation Lab, hosted by BBVA, bringing together IIF member firms and public sector officials to connect with regtech firms offering new technology solutions to growing regulatory and compliance challenges for financial institutions.

BBVA’s Innovation Center in Madrid hosted today the first global RegTech event,organized by the Institute of International Finance (IIF). The event was devised to foster interaction between regulators, financial institutions and technology firms specializing in the development of solutions aimed at supporting the regulatory compliance efforts of the banking industry. The meeting was attended by prominent members of the IIF, including BBVA’s Executive Chairman.

Regtech is the new concept that is revolutionizing financial technology. Regtech is paving the way for a new wave of startups that, leveraging technologies such as cloud computing or big data, are looking to save banks a lot of the time and resources they devote to ensure regulatory compliance.

Spain’s corporate sector is the most endebted in Europe, and for most companies, banks have traditionally been the main source of funding.  For many this continues to be the case – particularly as in the current cero interest rate environment banks have become more competitive and less expensive. However, for those corporates looking to diversify their funding sources, or in search of longer tenors, a high yield bond issuance may be a good alternative.

BBVA Compass announced that José ‘Pepe’ Olalla has been tapped as its Head of Business Development, an interim post he has held since December 2015 and one that plays a key role in the bank’s ongoing digital transformation in the face of changing consumer demands.