BBVA has launched a new service for startups looking to work with the bank, which matches up expertise with needs across the business.

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.

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.

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?

In this series of of interviews, BBVA talks with some of those at the cutting edge of designing the future of financial services. The series is about getting under the skin of where, how and why technology will be the biggest game-changer when it comes to how people and businesses bank in the future.

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.

Luisa Gómez Bravo, Global Head of Investment & Cost Management BBVA Group.

Luisa joined BBVA almost 20 years ago. During this time, she has held various positions in the bank, moving up to become the main financial head overseeing the Group’s investments and spending and, specifically the ‘Single Development Agenda’  (SDA).

She studied at ICADE and graduated with degrees in law and business administration. She lived in London for several years where she worked for American investment banks. Her view of BBVA is that it has always given her the opportunity to learn and develop. “That’s my main motivation.” she states.

Passionate about her job, she gets excited when she talks about the new way of working – using agile methodologies in small, multidisciplinary teams with quarterly product deliveries that enable fast results. “It’s exciting because your effort becomes tangible” she remarks when interviewed about the implications of the new management approach, which prioritizes resources on a global level according to the impact each project could have on BBVA’s business.

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.

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.

BBVA Compass’ hometown of Birmingham recently made national news in Forbes for its efforts in becoming the Silicon Valley of the South.

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.

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.

Business banking specialists Holvi have joined forces with Uber to provide the app based business’ partner drivers with an easy way to become entrepreneurs and manage their finances.

Three and a half years ago when BBVA acquired Madiva, a small company dedicated to big data, no one could have imagined the impact it would have on the group. In that time, the 16-employee strong startup has shown how the use of non-financial data can translate into new business, sales, and customers.

BBVA, a pioneer in real-time customer enrollment, has enhanced its online sign-up process. Last year, the bank announced the creation of Veridas, a technology company specializing in authentication systems. BBVA founded the new company with Das-Nano, a startup based in Spain’s northern Navarre region. The joint venture has already produced results: now anyone can sign up as a BBVA customer, from anywhere and at any time, by simply sendingtheir photograph and a video to the bank.

BBVA’s venture capital investment arm, Propel Venture Partners, is participating in a new funding round by an app-based business dedicated to helping U.S. workers with flexible working lives.

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.

BBVA Bancomer is the first bank in Mexico to use artificial intelligence integrated with WhatsApp’s technology. Its virtual assistant facilitates the bank’s communication with both customers and non-customer users, answering questions about branch location, how to open an account, and suggestions on how to use the bank’s digital services.

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.

BBVA has announced it is part of the consortium of corporate businesses and banks taking part in a new initiative by SWIFT aimed at speeding up cross border transactions.

BBVA realized a few years ago that it wouldn’t be able to tackle its strategic transformation alone, and decided to establish a series of strategic partnerships with a number of industry leaders.

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

There’s a fix for confusing economic terms or not being up-to-date with financial news: “influencers” aren’t just gamers or it-girls; many experts in the finance domain use the virtual world to provide information, data, and opinions about financial and economic topics.

Since June, asset management customers of BBVA in Switzerland can go online to contract any type of financial asset adapted to their risk profile. With “Click & Trade,” the bank advances its digitalization process, providing solutions that address its customers’ needs.

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.

Every year BBVA’s Open Talent competition sees an increasingly diverse range of entrants from all over the world, each of who is hoping to make business more effective through technology and the way it interacts with financial services.

BBVA has announced the finalists of Open Talent, the world’s biggest fintech competition. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the competition, which has welcomed over 6,000 entries from start-ups in more than 80 countries since it launched.

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.

BBVA keeps making headway in its transformation to become a fully digital organization. Madrid hosted a new quarterly global planning meeting where the company confirmed its commitment to materialize over 160 projects.

The future of the financial sector lies in its seamless integration into all sorts of devices. Biometrics, APIs and chatbots… there is mounting evidence that we might be in the early stages of the new era of  everywhere banking.

Digitalization encompasses both a process and a habitat. As a process, digitization transforms analogue content. For example, converting the 1604 edition of ‘Quijote’ printed by Juan de la Cuesta into a digital ‘Quijote’. The content that was drawn, printed, or typed is input into a computer via numeric codes. The result can even simulate the original typography. But the letters that appear on the screen are, in reality, digits that the computer converts into images.

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.

Artificial Intelligence’s greatest advances have yet to come, but the combination of big data with machine learning algorithms has already yielded benefits to the financial world daily operations.

BBVA Compass Head of Business Development Pepe Olalla recently spoke with Bank Innovation’s Tatjana Kulkarni in an interview posted in two articles, Zelle and Insurance on the Roadmap for BBVA Compass’s Mobile App and How the Innovation Team at BBVA Compass Focuses on Needs, Revenue.

Spain is the team that controls midfield, Russia attacks the most, while Brazil surprisingly is the most defensive. According to big data, such are the styles of play of the soccer teams currently facing off in the hopes of winning the tournament.

A fundamental characteristic of today’s market is the extreme competitiveness with which commercial operations are developed.   Business intelligence is key to getting ahead, but until recently in-depth BI development was difficult for small- and medium-sized businesses to adopt. Today, this has changed thanks to data and APIs like PayStats, which can be found in BBVA’s API_Market.

BBVA’s Global Head of Customer and Client Solutions, Derek White, has been interviewed by leading Spanish newspaper Expansión.

The Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), BME and a group of financial institutions formed by Banco Santander, BBVA, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Société Générale, have been collaborating over the past year on a project called Fast Track Listing (FTL), which is based on blockchain technology.

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.

Our initial goal is to try to answer questions such as when it is more appropriate to use AWS Lambda instead of AWS EC2 services, and especially, which parameters affect this comparison the most.

An analysis of the stories behind about 100 founders of startups that have closed down reveal the many hurdles in the way of creating a successful company.

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

BBVA’s push into the invisible payments market has taken another step forward with the deployment of a facial recognition payment system.

Two years ago, when BBVA defined its company purpose —to bring the age of opportunity to everyone— it also decided that the best way to reach this ambitious goal was to transform itself into an agile organization. Ricardo Forcano, BBVA’s Global Head of Talent & Culture, addressed more than 1,700 participants at the National Human Resources Congress where he shared the milestones of a journey that has revolutionized the way BBVA works.

“Hi, how can I help?” They are only five simple words, but there was nothing simple about what followed when Google presented Google Duplex at its recent I/O conference recently. Google Duplex is an ‘intelligent’ AI-led voice assistant tool that is capable of executing simple voice calls, such as making restaurant reservations or hairdresser’s appointments. It sounded so realistic and human that the person on the other end of the line in each demo was seemingly unaware that they were speaking to a machine.

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.

Amid the apparent decline of physical shops, new technologies are offering new opportunities to future consumers who will continue to visit stores, but with the help of artificial intelligence on their smartphones.

Consensus, the Coindesk conference held a week ago in New York, once again showed expectations generated by blockchain and cryptoassets are at their height. More than 8,400 professionals and investors attended the event, which last year had 2,200 visitors.

There are a huge number of reasons BBVA attends conferences like the Money20/20 Europe event in Amsterdam this week.

Ben Hammersley – currently the editor of Wired.uk – is credited with coining this term: a combination of iPod and broadcast. A podcast is a set of digital audio files making up a series of episodes that can be downloaded onto a variety of devices.

One of the recurring themes at this year’s Money 20/20 Europe conference was undoubtedly the power good data has to help businesses evolve.

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In this post we will address software dependency management: the security problems it implies, how to automate its management, receiving new vulnerabilities alerts in real time and how to implement a productive and satisfactory system using new Open Source tools as Deeptracy and Patton.

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 received another international award for its commitment to open banking. Trade publication Retail Banker International, which is part of the British platform Verdict, has given the bank the award for the world’s Best Open Banking services.

In the future, artificial intelligence will, among many other things, allow to develop helpful customer products for unbanked segments of the population. “Artificial intelligence and financial technologies create opportunities for the democratization of finance,” said Álvaro Martín, Head Economist of Digital Regulation and Trends at BBVA Research, during the meeting of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), held in Brussels. In his opinion, “artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing will boost financial inclusion”.

José Manuel González-Páramo took part in a panel discussion on the future global financial regulation at the spring meeting of the IIF (Institute for International Finance) in Brussels. In his opinion, the new regulatory framework should be based on five pillars: 1) focus on risks and activities rather than institutions themselves, 2) have an holistic approach, 3) be transversal and coordinated, 4) be flexible y 5) have a skeptical approach to technology with regulators focusing not on technology itself but on its use and effects.

Technology serves to create opportunities and also solve problems in the public sector. However, because of its many peculiarities, the pace of innovation is different, and its implications are more profound.

BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila said this morning that “the opportunities for both BBVA and our customers are in the digital world.” The Group’s chief executive participated in the 25th Finance Sector Meeting organized annually by Deloitte and Spanish daily ABC.

Generation T refers to those born from 2010 onwards. These are children who know the world through a digital screen and what is more important through touch. Hyperconnectivity, speed and instantaneousness are some of the words that go along with these children as they grow up.

He holds an undergraduate degree in physics. He’s the founder of Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, among other companies. He’s championed renewable energies, online payments and the space race. Elon Musk’s impressive resume brims with professional and economic success. What initiatives have made this entrepreneur one of top innovators of the 21st century?

BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila said this morning in Mexico that “digitization is having a huge impact on customer satisfaction,” resulting in higher levels of engagement. “Digitization is helping customers interact more with us, and they are more satisfied and loyal. This new way of interacting is a powerful lever that is transforming our value proposal, allowing us to help our clients with their lives and businesses in a deeper way,” he added.

In this article we explain how to include security in the browser and to be able to monitor in real time attacks directed to the client and that are very complicated to control in the server.

BBVA has today launched an innovative new global payments system that includes cards, alternative payment forms and a fraud-prevention tool.

Creating a startup isn’t the exclusive territory of new entrepreneurs or young people with moneymaking ideas. Big technological companies and their CEOs have recognized how to spot potential in emerging companies, buying them outright or overseeing the development of their growth potential.

The consultancy Accenture analyzes the inroads made by big tech in the financial sector and identifies five key steps banks need to take to create value in the face of advances made by fintech companies. BBVA’s focus on open banking and transformation in the digital era has been acknowledged by a number of institutions.

The spread of artificial intelligence will have positive and negative effects. In order for the former to outweigh the latter, companies, politicians and social groups should gave some thought to this and act accordingly.

DLT and blockchain share a conceptual origin: they are digitalized and decentralized log books of record. Often the terms are confused, but they are differentiated by an unshared set of specific features.

Derek White heads BBVA’s Global Customer Solutions area and leads the delivery of the digital transformation of the bank to support the achievement of BBVA’s strategic purpose of bringing the age of opportunity to everyone.

Adapt or die. An emphatic statement, but one that perfectly captures the spirit that drives startups. The search for innovation is often what characterizes these entrepreneurs, who now how to seize the opportunities enabled by new digital technologies linked to an innovative business idea.

The streets of New York’s Chinatown, Granada’s Sacromonte neighborhood, or Southall (London’s Little India) are examples of how people tend to live near others from the same place or social status. But businesses, restaurants, and bars are just as important meeting places as where we live. Esteban Moro, Professor at Universidad Carlos III and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), uses big data tools to analyze how people interact in these places.

For the startup sector, funding, finding customers and attracting talent and experience are often their most critical needs as they look to scale.

José Manuel González-Páramo, BBVA’s head of Global Economics, Regulation and Public Affairs, presented the bank’s blockchain strategy at the IIF’s meeting in Washington before regulatory officials of the finance sector. A strategy based on a pillar called the three E’s: Execution, Ecosystem, and Experience.

The fintech sector attracted $31 billion dollars in investment last year, with growth in the sector underpinned by venture capital, accelerators and consolidated companies. BBVA maintains an active strategy of investment, acquisition, tie-ups and the incubation of new companies in the sector.

With a little under a month to go until the world’s biggest fintech competition closes for entries, BBVA Open Talent has unveiled a new incentive to enter.

The Walkman, MP3s, outdoor music festivals, intimate music venues, special meet & greet passes… Some ways to listen to music have endured, while others have evolved over time, and still others have disappeared. What is clear is that this art form has cemented its position online. It seems music triumphs in both hearts and web pages.

In an interview with Spanish daily ‘El País’ from Silicon Valley, BBVA Chief Executive Officer says that “data belongs to customers and can only be used with their consent.” In comments to ‘El País’ Carlos Torres Vila also advances that BBVA is exploring the use of blockchain in corporate loans. This technology has the potential “to add a lot of transparency, efficiency and immutability, and offers a wide array of other possible uses.”

Some of the senior leaders from BBVA this week attended the Propel Venture Partners CEO summit in San Francisco.

What happens when an artificial intelligence system recommends a movie or a restaurant? Or a financial product?  To what extent can an algorithm get to know people? These and many more questions were raised during the presentation of the BBVA’s Data and Analytics project ‘RecSys, a recommendation in the era of machine learning’, which brought together experts from diverse fields (cinema, design, law and gastronomy) to discuss how society is changing with the arrival of these technologies.

There are a few Container Orchestration Engines available, such as Kubernetes, OpenShift, DC/OS, Nomad or Swarm, to name a few. On occasion, the optimal solution to deploy your apps requieres picking not one of those, but two or more. Each have their strenghts, and are targetted toward a specific kind of load. For instance, Kubernetes is specially prepared to deploy microservices very dynamically. However, in such a dynamic environment it is hard to handle a persistent database, task which is better handled by system such as DC/OS.

In an imperfect world, new technologies offer an opportunity to make certain improvements that benefit society. Blockchain, the driver of the new tech revolution, promises to help in solving key data traceability and transparency issues.

Finding funding is the main concern of the fintech sector in meeting growth and expansion targets, according to a new report published by the London Stock Exchange Group and TheCityUK. However, collaboration with big financial institutions on the basis of initiatives such as BBVA Open Talent is becoming increasingly important as a means of gaining presence in the market and driving fintech growth.

The fifth generation of mobile phone networks is essential for the internet of things and self-driving cars to become a reality but before that operators need to assure themselves that the rollout of the network will be profitable.

This week in London, BBVA hosted a roundtable at the Innovate Finance Global Summit. This year’s event, held at the historic City of London Guildhall, brought together forward-thinking global leaders from seed stage start-ups to global financial institutions and professional services firms.