According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the average family will spend nearly $700 on the return to school this year, contributing to the nation’s projected back-to-school spending total of $29.5 billion — the second highest figure on record and an 8 percent increase from last year. Although consumer confidence seems to be on the rise, BBVA Compass realizes that budget and convenience were probably still two core subjects in a parent’s back-to-school shopping curriculum this year.

Advances in mechanics, manufacturing techniques and artificial intelligence are giving way to increasingly sophisticated and specialized robots. These are some examples of the next generation of robotics that are being developed in MIT laboratories.

Spanish tennis star Garbiñe Muguruza has achieved one of her lifelong dreams: she has become the top-ranked tennis player in the world.  The title became hers after Karolina Plisková of the Czech Republic was defeated by CoCo Vandewehe of the United States (7-6 (4) y 6-3) in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Sept 6. Garbiñe will be officially crowned the world’s number one tennis player when the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) publishes its updated ranking on Sept. 11.

The art market today is opening up to new audiences. Maecenas is a startup that, through blockchain technology, allows users to invest In art in a fractionated manner, as if they were shareholders in an artwork.

When a storm of controversy erupted in Spain about the alleged mistreatment of interns in Michelin-starred restaurants, there were some surprised faces in the world of haute cuisine. It is true that in this sector, which has been so fashionable for a number of years, there are still those who are in favor of a training system of the "no pain, no gain" type; but these implacable instructors coexist side by side with maestros who, like the Roca brothers, have for a number of years been committed to a humanist revolution in the kitchens.

At the cl@b 2017, the region's leading experts will analyze how to apply innovation in the Latin American financial sector given the challenges of digitization, the need for new regulation, and the intensive use of technology in present and future banking services.

Tyler Dial is a rising country music artist who is always looking for ways to give back to his community – which is what also makes him a perfect fit as a BBVA Compass brand ambassador.

Naylenia Ramírez, of BBVA Provincial in Venezuela, is able to negotiate budgets and conditions with the bank’s toughest suppliers and then turn around make kids and adults laugh their hearts out.

I have now had three very good weeks on the tour that will finish next week at the US Open. I decided to play in Stanford despite its coming so soon after Wimbledon and I did not regret it. Things went very well and my victory in Cincinnati is the result of all the work I have done this season, which is bearing fruit.

Machines started by offering us recommendations on what to read, and now they’re capable of writing poetry, stories and even screenplays. Computers have gone from tools to help human creators to becoming creative entities themselves, explains Ramón López de Mántaras in the book “The Next Step: Exponential Life”, which can be downloaded at no charge on BBVA OpenMind’s website.