Around four million people have potentially benefited from the social bond that BBVA issued in 2021, in a placement that amounted to 1 billion euros. Almost 50% of the amount was allocated to the access to essential services category (health, education and financial services), followed by socioeconomic advancement and empowerment (37%), affordable basic infrastructure (12%) and affordable housing (0.6%). Such is the conclusion of the 2021 Green and Social Bonds Report just published by the bank. The document details the environmental and social impact generated by the projects and loans that have been financed with the proceeds of the green and social bonds issued by BBVA, S.A. since 2018, amounting to a total of €5 billion, of which €3 billion were green bonds and €2 billion were social bonds.

Garanti BBVA is supporting an important space for women entrepreneurs in Türkiye. The bank is joining forces with the Women in Trade Platform, which was launched by KAGİDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye), to support women entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the Turkish economy.

Garanti BBVA in collaboration with Ekonomist magazine and the Turkish Association of Female Entrepreneurs (KAGİDER) recently celebrated the 15th edition of the Women Entrepreneur Competition. During the awards ceremony on March 3rd, the winners of the four leading categories were announced.

BBVA’s Turkish unit recently became the only company in the country to be included in Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index for the 6th consecutive year. The bank was recognized for its social and economic empowerment of women, its promotion of women’s participation in decision-making mechanisms and its efforts to achieve gender equality in professional and personal life. As a result, the bank’s score rose from 78.56 last year to 88.56 this year.

Eleanor Roosevelt, Hansa Mehta, Minerva Bernardino and Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux are names to remember on December 10th, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The most translated text in the world proclaims, in essence, that all human beings, without distinction, are equal.

As part of its goal to make life easier for its customers, BBVA’s Turkish franchise is partnering with BlindLook- a social enterprise that develops accessible technologies for the visually impaired.

On the occasion of his visit to Peru and Colombia, BBVA's Chair took the opportunity to learn firsthand about the impact of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s efforts and to announce the winners of the 'Transformando Realidades (Transforming Realities)' scholarships, which help children of vulnerable microentrepreneurs pursue a college degree. "Meeting these entrepreneurs face to face is a life lesson," said Carlos Torres Vila, who recalled the Microfinance Foundation’s pledge to originate €7 billion in productive microcredits between 2021 and 2024 to support vulnerable entrepreneurs.

Garanti BBVA and Hepsiburada, two representatives of the banking and e-commerce sector in Turkey, are collaborating to strengthen the power of Turkey's female entrepreneurs. An alliance that marks the first e-commerce platform that supports female entrepreneurship with projects such as Garanti BBVA and The Technology Power program for Entrepreneurial Women, which has been leading efforts to empower female entrepreneurs for 15 years.

As of January 2021, 12 percent¹  of BBVA’s new financing is connected to sustainability, according to the figures released on Investor Day, which was held last week. At this event, BBVA’s Global Head of Sustainability, Javier Rodríguez Soler, also announced that BBVA expects to channel over €35 billion in sustainable financing in 2021. This represents more than 70 percent growth from 2020. “Decarbonization, in particular, and sustainability, in general, represent the greatest transformation in the history of humankind,” Rodríguez Soler stressed. This phenomenon represents an “huge business opportunity” for BBVA and its shareholders.

Garanti BBVA joins Ecording to plant 100,000 seeds for female entrepreneurs and raise awareness of the importance of their work.

The BBVA Microfinance Foundation (FMBBVA) organized ‘Connected for digital opportunities’ - an event which H.M. The Queen presided over. BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres Vila, Bank of Spain Deputy Governor Margarita Delgado and the Director General of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, Javier M. Flores, all participated in the event. The debate focused on boosting economic recovery from a more innovative and inclusive perspective through technology.

La Linterna, the radio program directed by the renowned journalist Ángel Expósito, has been switched on from the headquarters of Bancamía, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation's entity in Colombia. The objective: to shed light on the reality of the most vulnerable populations in Latin America - those exposed to inequality, which, far from improving, has increased as a result of the pandemic.

Tolkido founder Can Yıldız took part in Garanti BBVA’s Film Gibi Girişimler program through an interview series dedicated to discussing the future with new entrepreneurs and promoting social innovation projects.

Global Finance magazine has announced the winners for the 2021 Best Digital Bank Awards. BBVA has become the only Spanish bank recognized by the publication in two categories: Best digital bank for SMEs, and best corporate mobile banking app in Western Europe.

The Turkish men’s wheelchair basketball team, the 12 Brave Hearts, will take part in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, sponsored by Garanti BBVA. The players, who have already accumulated some important victories in European and World Championships, including Gold in 2017 and Bronze in 2019 at the European Championships, will once again represent Turkey at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, as they did in London 2012 and Rio 2016. This year, the Turkish team will compete in Group A and will play against South Korea on August 26. In addition to the Korean team, the group is made up of teams from Canada, Spain, Colombia and Japan, the host country.

Biotechnology is by no means a new discipline, although it does encompass many others. Today, it is advancing by leaps and bounds and has an increasing range of applications: from pharmaceutical development, with the production of vaccines for COVID-19, to the creation of biofuels and more sustainable industrial processes, not to mention the treatment of polluting waste.

Tesla and China’s restrictions to 'bitcoin' have brought to the foreground new ways to generate more energy-efficient cryptocurrencies.

The need to create a livable global environment that respects and preserves biodiversity is driving initiatives such as the European Green Deal, with an integrative vocation under the umbrella of sustainable and inclusive development. The aim of this agreement is to implement a set of measures to address climate and environmental challenges.

Garanti BBVA is aware of the role that teachers play in promoting quality education. For this reason, since the restrictions began in March 2020, the bank and its ÖRAV Academy have transformed the content they offer teachers through their platform, enriching it with additional information and training apps so that teachers can adapt to the changes following the pandemic.

BBVA Group Chairman Carlos Torres Vila stressed during his presentation at the opening session of the 2021 EduFin Summit the importance of financial education, which he considers “essential to promote a sustainable and inclusive growth.” Also participating in the event was Bank of Spain’s Deputy Governor Margarita Delgado, who underlined the importance of education to foster change toward a more sustainable world.

"Society owes a debt to women," said Bancamía's executive president, Miguel Ángel Charria. For this division of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (FMBBVA), providing service to women has been a priority since the branch was created in 2008 as the first microfinance bank in Colombia. Today, Bancamía supports 1.4 million micro-entrepreneurs, most of them women. The bank seeks to help its customers to overcome the crisis caused by the pandemic through the issuance of social bonds with a focus on gender equality, for an amount of 200 billion pesos, about 45 million euros.