Francisco González named Banker of the Year by Euromoney magazine

Furthermore BBVA received two regional awards: the Best Digital Bank in North America and the Best Digital Bank in Latin America. The publication also selected BBVA as the Best Bank in Mexico and the Best Bank in Venezuela. In addition, BBVA received the awards for the Best Investment Bank in Mexico and Colombia.

Francisco González is the first Spaniard to receive the Euromoney award for Banker of the Year. “It seems fitting that Euromoney’s Banker of the Year award for 2016 should go to a bank leader who has not only been talking the challenge banks face from technology for a decade or more, but has actively been positioning the bank not just to survive in this new era, but to thrive in it,” said Euromoney.

The publication underscores that BBVA “has built a diversified global business, with a particularly strong presence in high-growth markets such as Mexico, through Bancomer; and Turkey, through its recent consolidation of Garanti Bank. It also remains a leader in the competitive Spanish market and in others in Latin America.”

The Euromoney awards were presented at a gala in the Tower of London, one of the most emblematic buildings of the British capital, which has nearly a thousand-year history.

Regional and country awards

Euromoney selected BBVA as the Best Bank in Spain in 2016. With this award, the jury valued BBVA’s strength to take on new, transformative projects. The publication emphasized BBVA’s progress toward a new way of banking, aimed at offering their customers the best possible experience. It specifically valued the bank’s booming digital sales and the launch of innovative native apps.

BBVA Bancomer was also honored as the Best Bank in Mexico. In the last year, the bank has shown a solid performance despite the complex economic environment in the country. BBVA Bancomer has seen double digit growth in lending and customer funds and high resilience in its results. It has also launched a wide range of digital products, increasing from 6 to 27 products in one year. Euromoney stressed that “BBVA Bancomer’s strong performance – with double-digit growth in net income – is the fruition of a transformation plan that the bank launched in 2013. The plan will be completed this year but already more than 70% of the total investment of $3.5 billion has been spent and the impact on the bank’s competitive positioning in Mexico has been very positive. The bank continues to be the leading franchise in the Mexican market in terms of having the largest market share in terms of asset, loans, deposits, infrastructure (branches and ATMs) and profitability.”

BBVA Provincial was selected as the Best Bank in Venezuela for the ninth year thanks to its customer-centric approach and strategy to improve customer experience across all channels, both digital and traditional. The bank has a notable risk-profitability management, with significant growth in activity that makes it continue to be one of the leading institutions in Venezuela’s financial system. According to Euromoney, “BBVA Provincial has been focusing on investing in its platform in recent years as a means to optimize its earnings. The bank has built an impressive digital platform (the efficiency rate is just 27%) and has been focusing on building a diversified base of SMEs as well as investing in its physical network, to maintain its dominant market share.”

Moreover, BBVA is the World’s Best Bank in Emerging Markets thanks to the diversification of its business in different countries, not only in traditional banking, but particularly in mobile banking.

BBVA’s drive to take advantage of new technologies in its transformation process also led the bank to win the Euromoney award for the Best Digital Bank in Latin America. “BBVA is at the forefront of digitizing retail banking in Latin America. Of course, the region isn’t homogenous and there are staggered implementation schedules, but in all the countries the bank is present it has one of the best digital platforms”, said Euromoney.

BBVA was also named Best Digital Bank in North America. “Whereas large North American banks have pushed back against disrupters, BBVA Compass exemplifies what can happen when a bank embraces them.” Euromoney highlighted BBVA Compass’s collaborations with Dwolla, FuturAdvisor and eCredible, and with its subsidiaries Simple and Spring Studio. BBVA Compass was recognized also for its success in mobile technology and real-time processing.

In the investment banking categories, Euromoney named BBVA Bancomer the Best Investment Bank in Mexico and BBVA is the Best Investment Bank in Colombia for the first time.  

These awards recognize the bank’s capabilities in advisory, corporate lending, global markets and transaction banking for global customers and investors for whom BBVA offers a wide range of products and services. In Colombia, Euromoney underscores that: “The bank was a leader in the DCM segment, leading on the Republic of Colombia’s €1.375 billion ten-year bond that marked the sovereigns return to the Euro market after a 15-year absence.” In Mexico, the publication noted that in the past 12 months the bank has improved the brand perception regarding quality of advice given to clients,” and said that “the bank has consistently been near the top of the league tables in recent years. And this year it also strengthened its offer with Euro-denominated transactions.”