"Hello! Finally, we meet! I have been specifically designed to help you better understand the ins and outs of your daily finances.  I am always available and crunching the numbers is one of my favorite tasks."

This could be the start of a friendship, a virtual friendship, because the virtual assistant is a “bot” enabled in BBVA’s app whose express mission is to better control customer finances. “We call it a  'pseudo-bot’ ... initially resembling conversational interfaces,” explains Sergio Ruiz Navarro, who is responsible for the design/UX of this endearing creature whose mission is to understand if customers do a good job (or not) of managing their money.

Forbes magazine has included BBVA as one of the ‘Blockchain 50,’ a list that recognizes the leaders in the use and development of this exponential technology. The U.S. publication specifically focused on BBVA’s efforts in the area of blockchain-powered syndicated loans, which are used by the bank to further transparency, security, and efficiency throughout its business processes.

As the General Manager of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Agustín Carstens, said, “New technology is not the same as better, or more efficient technology.” However, you don’t have to be a techno-optimist to recognize that the evolution of technology is unstoppable and improvements can be expected to address things like the volatility of cryptocurrencies. In fact, solutions are already being considered for this problem, such as stable digital currency, or “stablecoins”.

Each year Propel Venture Partners holds an annual summit for the businesses it invests into through it’s single limited partner, BBVA. The event in Silicon Valley is a chance for updates, shared learnings, introductions and to discuss the kind of technology and drivers that will shape the sector in the coming years.

BBVA Group executive chairman outlined the importance of the shared ecosystem to building the future of financial services at the Propel Venture Partners annual summit, an event for fintech CEOs celebrated this week in San Francisco, California.

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).

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.

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.”

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.