Upturn, a new venture incubated by BBVA and aimed at changing the financial health of up to 22 million U.S. residents a year, has today been launched in the U.S.

The digital revolution has social consequences that must be understood and managed. Nobel Laureate in Economics Joseph Stiglitz says the key is to ensure that inequality does not increase.

BBVA collaborated with a research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop a model that can reduce the level of false positives in fraudulent card transactions up to 54 percent, thanks to algorithms based on machine learning.

At the Atlantic Council in Washington DC, BBVA Group Executive Chairman Francisco González presented ‘The Age of Perplexity’ – the tenth installment of OpenMind’s book series, which explores the profound transformation brought about by the digital revolution. In his opinion, the combination of globalization and rapidly developing technology has led to an era of political and social change. This period is both the cause and effect of a state of deep uncertainty, which focuses primarily on the future of the economy and employment.

The arrival of new blockchain platforms, advances in cloud computing and the consolidation of new machine-human interactions, are among the hottest trends according BBVA Next Technologies ‘Tech Radar 2018‘, a report that shines the spotlight on some the most relevant tools and practices in 2018, as well as those that will mark the next years in fields such as big data and artificial intelligence.

Driverless cars capable of behaving like bird flocks, software capable of playing sheets of music composed during the Renaissance, algorithms capable of analyzing emotions expressed by social media users and tools for boosting people’s learning abilities… These are just some areas on which the winners of this year’s edition of the Spanish Computer Science Society (SCIE) – BBVA Foundation Research Awards have focused their work.

One of the core themes BBVA has been exploring at the Money20/20 U.S. event this year has been the power of networks.

Some 75 percent of the world’s population  —77 percent in the case of Spain— feels overwhelmed by the constant buzz of information that marks digital life.

Devices with combined cloud technology and neural networks integrated into their hardware – to reduce potential stability, privacy, and latency issues – are now a reality.

For the sixth year in a row, the European Commission and the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) are calling October “European Cybersecurity Month” in order to promote cybersecurity across the EU. The goal is to raise awareness of cybersecurity, identify and change unsafe behavior and provide users resources to learn how to protect themselves online.

In an online world, scammers are using new tricks and forms of deception to get what they want from their victims. Although the tools may have changed, today’s scams are not much different from the old-school “pigeon drop” scam in which a victim is persuaded to give the scammer money with the promise of receiving a much larger sum. In this new scenario, cybersecurity training is essential to protect the private data of both individuals and professionals.

For the sixth year in a row, the European Commission and the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) are calling October “European Cybersecurity Month” in order to promote cybersecurity across the EU. The goal is to raise awareness of cybersecurity, identify and change unsafe behavior and provide users resources to learn how to protect themselves online.

In an online world, scammers are using new tricks and forms of deception to get what they want from their victims. Although the tools may have changed, today’s scams are not much different from the old-school “pigeon drop” scam in which a victim is persuaded to give the scammer money with the promise of receiving a much larger sum. In this new scenario, cybersecurity training is essential to protect the private data of both individuals and professionals.

This week, a quick wrap-up of the top fintech stories:

For the sixth year in a row, the European Commission and the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) are calling October “European Cybersecurity Month” in order to promote cybersecurity across the EU. The goal is to raise awareness of cybersecurity, identify and change unsafe behavior and provide users resources to learn how to protect themselves online.

With investments on artificial intelligence expected to reach €10 billion by 2020, it is evident that the financial sector is very optimistic about these technologies. However, the level of uncertainty surrounding AI remains almost too high to justify this degree of enthusiasm. In a recently published paper, the World Economic Forum warns about how overhyped misconceptions of what AI really is and what it can deliver may undermine the potential benefits derived from the use of artificial intelligence in finance. In contrast with this vision, other experts concur that AI contributes more to prevent and mitigate risks than to generate them.

With the slogan “Stop. Think. Connect. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility”, more than 400 activities will take place during ‘European Cybersecurity Month’ across Europe. Activities like conferences, workshops, training sessions, presentations, webinars, Internet campaigns and much more are all designed to protect users from Internet scammers.

In an online world, scammers are using new tricks and forms of deception to get what they want from their victims. Although the tools may have changed, today’s scams are not much different from the old-school “pigeon drop” scam in which a victim is persuaded to give the scammer money with the promise of receiving a much larger sum. In this new scenario, cybersecurity training is essential to protect the private data of both individuals and professionals.

The Valencian company Emotion Research Lab has developed a system that studies human behavior through facial analysis.

The CEO and future chairman of BBVA, Carlos Torres Vila, stressed this morning that “privacy should never be the price to pay for a service.” At the IX Financial Meeting organized by KPMG and Spain’s daily business journal Expansión he explained that new European regulations for the protection and use of data (GDPR and PSD2) are a step in the right direction, although he called for a level playing field between banks and other sectors.

Mobility, health, commerce…everything is connected in cities. Thanks to digitalization and big data, now it is possible to combine all of these aspects, opening the door for better urban planning.

The best way to close a distance is to eliminate it. This is what is required if distance is what prevents one in every four financially excluded people from opening a bank account. The World Bank indicates that technology may play a key role in making financial inclusion a viable reality for everyone, which is why digital transformation is part of BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s DNA. The Foundation aims to reach more people, regardless of how far away they live, and to provide assistance as efficiently and quickly as possible.

Some companies are now working to incorporate blockchain technology into smartphones. A cell phone that incorporates these characteristics could become the most secure on the market. This would be possible thanks to blockchain’s intrinsic security provisions.

According to Gartner, 38% of companies around the world are expected to use ‘conversational bots’ for customer service and managing corporate applications by employees.

Amazon & Google jointly hold over two thirds of the global smart speaker market, but problems ‘made in China’ are on the horizon.

The tools known as cryptowallets allow the storage and exchange of cryptocurrencies, and are becoming increasingly relevant in the context of the cryptoeconomy and blockchain boom. It is important to recognize their characteristics and differences, as not all offer the same levels of security.

Francisco González, the executive chairman of the BBVA Group, is a member of the International Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and is a frequent visitor to the country. This weekend, he took part in the Singapore Summit, an event aimed at “connecting Asia with the rest of the world.” While there, Francisco González granted an interview to the Spanish daily ABC, in which he speaks about the “extraordinary moment” the bank is going through, having chosen to embark on a digital endeavor, the results of which have been striking. These results include an increase in digital sales, which accounted for 42 percent of total sales in July. “The first fruits of digitization have been really superb,” he says.

If our digital identities are only guided by the recommendations fed by an artificial intelligence, we risk creating a virtual world with polarized opinions.

The concept of a ‘dictionary attack’, although it sounds like a fight in a library, refers to a method of hacking to break password-protected security systems.

How many times have you gone to a search engine to find an answer for something, but didn’t know exactly how to frame your inquiry to get the desired result?

BBVA Compass is far from experiencing an AI takeover of the sort Wikipedia describes, but teams from around the bank, including Mortgage, Finance and Compliance, have discovered the power and efficiency of automation.

Like most IT professionals, the engineering team at BBVA Compass loves the challenge and teamwork of a good hackathon.  These condensed collaborative coding events were the inspiration for the inaugural BBVA Compass Ninja Hackathon, which included both bank employees and students from the University of Alabama Birmingham.

Advances in technology contribute to economic progress and have a direct, long-term impact on society’s well-being. Clearly, digital transformation creates opportunities that improve both our lives and our businesses. BBVA shares this view: the bank has made a commitment to new technologies such as blockchain, which allow it to offer innovative financing approaches to its corporate clients.

Like other customer-centric companies, BBVA Compass uses large amounts of data — “big data” — to drive its customer understanding and its customer experiences.  And while the bank’s shift to its new big data platform will make data collection easier, the process still requires data analysts who can make sense of all that information.

Blockchain is one of the most disruptive new technologies in the world of finance. But currently its use in the sector is focused mainly on the underlying technology – Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)- to create applications or redesign processes rather than in creating cryptoassets. The reason? Blockchain applications have the potential to improve the efficiency, transparency and traceability of processes while cryptoassets are volatile.

What is BBVA’s strategy for transforming the bank into a truly digital company?

Amid increasing numbers of fintechs joining the financial industry and burgeoning investment in them – Accenture reports $27.4 billion was spent financing fintechs in 2017, an 18 percent increase year-over-year – there has been much hand wringing and discussion about the future of incumbent banks. For BBVA Compass Head of Business Development Pepe Olalla, the future isn’t so murky.

“When people say the next industry to be disrupted will be banking, and that it will suffer what media or the music industries have suffered, I tend to disagree,” he says.

We take a look at the mobile apps with the largest number of downloads and installations in iOS and Android devices since the launch of their respective virtual stores.

BBVA often talks about how it is transitioning from a bank into a truly digital company. While it is an easy thing to say, the ways in which you demonstrate this are incredibly complex. Take data, for example.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently released research aimed at demonstrating the importance of digital transformation in corporate banking. In the research, BCG underscored the notion that for lasting and meaningful digital transformation, banks need to develop a clear vision for the future of banking, formulate a comprehensive strategy of how they will evolve alongside it, and plan their initiatives accordingly.

Spain has just become one of the few countries in the European Union with a concrete proposal for launching a regulatory sandbox. The goal? To create a space for experimentation, temporarily unencumbered by regulatory measures, to promote innovation in the financial sector. In doing so, Spain thus has stolen a march on other countries in this area, with a proposed law that appeals to both the traditional financial industry and new fintech startups. Álvaro Martín, Chief Economist for Digital Regulation and Trends at BBVA Research helps us understand how it will function and if it benefits the consumer.

With the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications across industries, there has been understandable confusion around associated terms, including Robotic Process Automation, Intelligent Automation and even AI itself.

What does rooting or jailbreaking a mobile device mean? Both verbs refer to the same action of removing the limitations that mobile device manufacturers impose to limit user access to the devices’ resources, thus becoming some sort of superuser. Root however is used when the action is performed on android devices, and jailbreak on iOS devices.

A new cryptocurrency available without the internet represents one of the first examples of how to implement blockchain technology in the absence of a decent digital infrastructure.

Computer programs that automate processes are already common in banks. They cut costs, improve efficiency, but what is more important is that when combined with artificial intelligence, they open the door to greater advances.

From industry conferences to the headlines of the trades and in boardrooms around the world, the term “Artificial Intelligence” – or AI – is all the rage in financial services.

Answering this question is not easy. Academics and financial industry representatives met to discuss whether it would be appropriate for central banks to issue digital currencies. In the forum, BBVA executive board member, José Manuel González-Páramo, indicated that he believes it is probable that central banks will issue cryptocurrencies in the years ahead.  Future advances in blockchain technology will open the way to its use by financial authorities.

New VR headsets like Oculus Go and HTV Pro are becoming more accesible and dropping barries to entry for a wider range of audience.

A number of websites offer downloads of thousands of books that can be read on any device.

Summer is synonymous with more time for reading. Here we provide 10 nonfiction titles that that will give you a broader view of a world in change.

Banks have clearly opted for financial technology, or fintech, to take on their new rivals, be they small startups or internet giants. However, the use of these technologies is more limited than it might appear. According to a study by the European Banking Authority (EBA), currently the majority of banks are focused on two lines of actions: biometrics for the identification and authentication of customers and the launch of mobile payment systems using NFC technology.

BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila got a first-hand glimpse into the level of progress that the BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s digital strategy is enabling. Bancamía, the Foundation’s lending arm in the country, is managing to reach more and more customers who, until recently, had struggled to access financing as a result of the digital divide. BBVA’s CEO learned about two of the entrepreneurs backed by the institution and how microcredits have afforded them new opportunities to pursue a brighter future.

The world of business is constantly coining new terms to name and categorize emerging concepts, ideas, technologies and activities that existing words struggle to convey. In this article we’ve assembled a list of relevant neologisms that will help you keep up with what’s happening in the field of digital innovation.

Europe included cybersecurity as one of its priorities in the European Council meeting in June. Some 69 percent of European companies lack basic knowledge about their exposure to cyberattacks despite 80 percent of them having suffered some type of cyber-incident in the past year. With this in mind, the European Parliamentary Financial Service Forum (EPFSF) organized in the European Parliament a session for cybersecurity experts to suggest ideas to face the risks in the internet.

Technology changes our lives day by day, offering us capabilities that were unimaginable just yesterday, but also complex challenges and potentially frightening conflicts. In other words: the perfect raw material for the best TV comedy and drama, which has found fertile ground in anti-establishment hackers, genius programmers, start-ups in distress, indolent IT guys or dystopian visions that seem a little too much like the world we live in.

Gesturing to the mint colored typewriter on the table, BBVA US Director of Risk Technology and Productivity Amory Booher said, “Technology has a lifecycle with a start and end date. For instance, the computer changed how we interacted with typewriters. Similarly, artificial intelligence and cognitive capabilities are changing how we interact with computers. We don’t know if these technological advancements will be as significant as going from the typewriter to the computer, but it’s incumbent on us to understand how these technologies are being applied so we can use them to make our lives better.”

The word “gig” comes from musical jargon and refers to a performance by a musical group. When applied to the working world, the concept refers to sporadic jobs of limited duration. The person hired to do the job is responsible for fulfilling a specific role within a project.

Every Friday, BBVA Compass, a leader in the U.S. digital banking revolution, publishes its weekly Fintech Friday article, giving you headlines you might have missed in the world of fintech across the U.S.

Over three days experts in finance, fintech and technology debated in Salzburg (Austria) the import of the challenge posed by technology for the economy and the financial sector. The disruption brought on by the massive adoption of new technologies has quickened the pace of change facing institutions. They also face the task of attracting customers in an environment in which there is much more supply.

The digital revolution has transformed the business of many industries and the way in which they offer services to their customers. Carlos Casas and Ophélie Richard, or BBVA’s Talent & Culture area, addressed during Talent Day 2018 how these changes also require companies to radically transform the way in which they work and manage in-house talent.

Where do most internet users go online from? What devices do they use? How often do they upgrade their smartphones? This a snapshot of the current internet and smartphone use habits across the planet.

With the creation of this engineering company, home to 1,200 technology experts, BBVA seeks to expedite its technological transformation.

We are witnessing the birth of a new generation of consumers. The latest generations – “millennials” and “centennials” – and those who are no longer so young but have quickly migrated to the new technologies, are setting the course for the economy in general and for banking in particular. Their new patterns of behavior and consumption create needs that change as quickly as the digital environment. It is essential that banks understand these needs so that they can help their customers make better financial decisions.

Long gone are the days when banks would send canceled checks from the previous month’s transactions so  customers could balance their checkbooks and manage their accounts. Today, the proliferation of digital money movement means transferring of money in and out of bank accounts has become real-time and a daily process. The BBVA Compass Mobile Banking App makes daily account management an easier task with customizable real-time alert notifications.

Forrester analyst Martha Bennett shared with BBVA her view on the current uses of and potential of blockchain. According to this expert, this technology is comparable to the mobile phone and the internet in the 1990s when already “usable” but far off reaching full potential.

Novels, movies, articles … much has been written about the future. From Jules Verne’s famed Journey to the Center of the Earth to flying cars that promise to revolutionize commuting. With the passage of time, ideas that seemed outlandish in the past have become a reality, causing us to think that ideas that seem impossible just might materialize.

BBVA has unveiled Valora View, the first app in the European Banking sector using augmented reality to help prospective buyers or renters find a home. With this new free service, available for both customers and non-customers of the bank, BBVA launches a tool that, harnessing the power of big data, is capable of providing users with recommended purchase or rent prices for a specific property. And not only that: The application can also provide advice on whether it makes more sense to buy or rent, and even run mortgage simulations.