BBVA USA was recently honored by IDG’s CIO as a U.S. 2021 CIO 100 award winner for its efforts, that took place exactly one year ago this week, in creating an online portal for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data are transforming the traditional application of tech in the world of marketing. With these tools, startups and SMEs are able to reach a more specific audience for their products at a lower cost than traditional advertising.

Garanti BBVA’s retail and business clients can now view their account balances and statements with other banks. Garanti BBVA Internet allows self-employed and businesses check their accounts with other banks from a single screen, without any further login requirements.

BBVA and Google Cloud today announced a new strategic partnership to transform the bank’s security strategy by optimizing and improving its security infrastructure. As part of this global agreement, BBVA will collaborate with Google Cloud in the development of groundbreaking new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models to predict and prevent cyberattacks against its banking infrastructure, providing a more secure experience for the bank and its customers.

The emergence of technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain has exponentially multiplied the volume of data used, putting current computer systems to the test. Despite the fact that the arrival of 5G promises an improvement in these limitations, it is not enough to respond to the performance demands of this latest generation technology. An alternative to this is edge computing.

Yesil Science was created with the objective of developing innovative solutions to healthcare, combining medicine, art, and technology. In addition, it is a company that has participated in the Garanti BBVA Partners program.

The tokenisation of assets via blockchain could facilitate new financing pathways, guarantee secure investments and programme digital money so that it can only be used for certain purposes, although the associated regulations have not yet materialised.

According to a report by Smartme Analytics, BBVA’s app has the largest share of users at 22.6%. BBVA’s country manager for Spain, Peio Belausteguigoitia, stressed that “investment in technology in recent years enabled a rapid reaction to the crisis.” Peio made these comments at the 27th Meeting of the Financial Sector, with the theme ‘Building the Future’, hosted by Deloitte and ABC (a leading Spanish newspaper), while speaking about the role of the financial sector in the crisis and its future challenges.

Onur Genç participated in ‘The Global Boardroom: Shaping the recovery’ forum organized by the Financial Times, where he shared his vision of the pandemic’s effect on the banking sector. The BBVA CEO pointed out that this crisis has accelerated certain dynamics, such as the digitization of banks’ business models, although this trend “was already in place.” For example, he explained that customer interactions in the bank’s app have multiplied by fivefold in the last year.

The Navarra-based company Veridas has experienced solid growth since its creation in 2017 and has established itself as a global leader in the field of biometrics and digital identity verification. Its two founding partners, BBVA and Das-Nano, have carried out a financing round of four million euros in the company that will serve to continue expanding their business in new markets.

It’s a challenge to find out what society thinks about a company or brand, especially when you have 40 million followers spread across 10 countries and 190 social media profiles, like BBVA. Even so, the winners of the BBVA Hackathon 2020 accomplished it in only three days, developing a tool to measure users’ feelings about the bank on social media, using machine learning techniques.

What better way to demonstrate just how secure the card is than Jaime Bisbal, BBVA’s Head of Marketing in Spain, showing his off in the middle of the street? This is the bank’s way of introducing Aqua, the new family of bank cards that have no number (PAN) or expiration date printed on them and whose security code (CVV) is dynamic.

Biometric advances are already being used in a multitude of financial sector processes. Artificial intelligence can analyse speech and facial characteristics to create a digital identity that allows for a much more secure online setting, where there’s a proliferation of apps from customised services to health care.

Garanti BBVA is betting on technology and innovation to continue leading the payment system and credit card sector. Now customers can complete the credit card application and authorization process on Bonus’ website and start enjoying all of the benefits immediately.

In its efforts to continue supporting the financial group’s digital transformation,  BBVA Hackathon is announcing its 20th edition, which will take place on October 16th – 18th. It will be virtual this year, with countries participating where BBVA Open Innovation has a presence like Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Peru.

Blue is pleasant, patient, and able to put itself in the shoes of others. It loves talking to humans and is always willing and ready to help customers. And it wants to learn lots of things in order to become even more insightful. These are just some of the personality traits that characterize BBVA’s new voice assistant, which came to life out of a complex process that factored even the most minor details.

BBVA Group will gradually roll out the next generation of wireless connection technology — WiFi 6 — across its corporate offices in Spain and Portugal. The bank thus becomes one of the first Spanish financial companies to adopt the technology, which will provide faster browsing speeds and greater coverage to complement 5G.

Corporate virtual security has become even more important as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Cybercriminals have found new opportunities in digitization and remote-working to commit fraud and cyber attacks; companies and employees alike have to be prepared against this risk. To this end, Campus BBVA has trained approximately 2,000 employees using courses, conferences, and discussion groups focused on digitization and tele-working as strategic capabilities that promise to be fundamental during the near future.

BBVA is the first bank in Spain to allow zero-touch cash withdrawals from its ATMs, called ‘contactless ATMs’. This new way of accessing cash not only streamlines the process, it also provides additional protection to customers during times of pandemic.

The sixth generation of WiFi delivers faster connectivity, expands its reach, and supports a greater density of connected devices. This technology, which goes hand-in-hand with 5G, will facilitate the rollout of sensors for the Internet of Things (IoT) and the creation of immersive and augmented virtual reality experiences.

Álvaro Garrido has been safeguarding the integrity of BBVA’s assets for the past three years. In his role as Chief Security Officer (CSO), he’s responsible not only for the Group’s physical & digital security, but also for its fraud prevention efforts, an exceptionally broad range of duties for such a large company and, at the same time, a great professional challenge.

BBVA in Spain’s mobile banking app adds an average of 60 new features every year. Users especially appreciated the ability to manage their finances on the app during the lockdown. They also value the channel’s speed – the app opens in just two seconds – and how easy it is to use.  Bank customers gave the app a score of 4.7 on Google – the highest in the industry and close to the maximum score of 5. The app reached this score after the outbreak of the pandemic, when it became and essential tool.

Beyond hastening the adoption of specific technologies – such as telemedicine or robotics – one of the brightest outcomes of the scenario brought about by the coronavirus pandemic has been the unprecedented collaborative spirit that has emerged, which could unleash deeper changes in technological development in the coming years. The challenges posed by the coronavirus aftermath may lead to increasing levels of data sharing and faster deployment of solutions to preserve privacy, which could help lay the foundation for new digital infrastructures.

Reliability, convenience, sustainability, trust, and security are key words consumers and businesses want to associate with their bank. The best example of where these words blend to one concrete concept in the banking industry is in data and technology.

In its third year, the BBVA global ninja hackathon took place virtually for the first time. Local teams representing the digital talent community from seven of the bank’s operating countries participated in the event. Despite the separation by distance, more than 1,000 BBVA ninjas joined the initiative, helping their teams solve technological challenges created by Amazon Web Services (AWS). At this year’s event, U.S. team SQL Injection emerged as the global winner.

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of COVID-19 and the new reality it has imposed: telecommuting hitting peak levels and huge amounts of information — and misinformation — circulating the Internet. Scammers are ramping up their activities as they try to maximize ill-gotten gains. We explain how these organized groups work, what attacks are the most common, and what we can do to protect ourselves.

More than 700 people have responded to BBVA Next Technology’s invitation to participate in Tech4Change. The initiative is grounded in a spirit of solidarity and seeks collaborators who want to contribute to the development of two technological solutions, both of which have been conceived by BBVA employees with the goal of helping small businesses weather the COVID-19 crisis. Over the coming weeks, the assembled teams will work together on two solutions: a platform that allows small businesses to manage orders from home and an application that cuts down on customer traffic in establishments that provide essential goods or services.