José Manuel González-Páramo, BBVA’s Head of Global Economics and Public Affairs, at a meeting organized by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in Washington, D.C. defended a regulatory framework for the financial sector that promotes the potential benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Blockchain, as the first fully functional DLT, was key to the discussion.

Thanks to DiGiX 2018, BBVA Research’s multidimensional digitization index, it is possible to compare which countries are the most advanced in this area, and discover their strengths and weaknesses. The index analyzes the economies of 99 different countries.  Top in the ranking are Luxembourg, the U.S. the Netherlands, Singapore and Hong Kong, while Malaysia, South Africa, Chile and Costa Rica are regional leaders.

BBVA is one of the founding members of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), which was officially launched today in Brussels.  Carlos Kuchkovsky, CTO of New Digital Businesses at BBVA, represents the only Spanish company on the new association’s ten-member Board.

BBVA Compass Atascosita Branch Retail Executive Liz Zweifel recently said of the bank’s efforts around mobile engagement, “It’s important to make sure our customers understand we aren’t pushing them away, we just want them to have access to another resource and another connection.”

Garanti continues to bring innovative solutions to the Turkish banking sector with SWIFT GPI, a new standard that provides significant improvements to the handling of international payments. Foreign currency transactions made to both domestic and foreign banks via Garanti Bank can now be easily tracked with SWIFT’s ‘Tracking Report’ feature, which has been integrated into Garanti Online Banking.

The branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on teaching machines how to see is becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is already better than humans at telling one person from another. At BBVA’s headquarters, this technology is already being used to allow users to pay for their meals at Ciudad BBVA’s restaurants. But, how does it work?

A group of 12 leading regional and digital financial institutions have joined together as investors and members in KY3P®, a company dedicated to working with the financial industry to standardize best practices for managing third-party risk and optimizing the processes by which financial institutions assess and monitor inherent risk in engaging suppliers and entering into third-party relationships.

As technological innovation continues, customer expectations evolve at a similarly rapid pace.  In navigating this dynamic landscape, financial institutions are increasingly seeking assistance from outside, third party providers, a strategy that itself poses inherent risks, like cybersecurity challenges and the potential for digital-related fraud.  Greater attention and scrutiny from regulators naturally results from this developing risk paradigm.

BBVA and Telefónica have signed a strategic agreement that designates the operator as the single telecommunications service provider for the bank and its employees in Spain. The alliance will allow BBVA to optimize its communications systems, increase the capacity of its technology network, and extend its adoption of cloud computing, providing a distinctive advantage to the business’ needs.