BBVA has a core purpose of bringing the age of opportunity to everyone. The first step toward fulfilling this purpose has to do with the bank’s contribution to attaining the first of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the end of poverty. The 17 SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The UN has called on companies to unite their efforts and initiatives in this area, with a focus on public-private partnerships.

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.

Marcos, Marcela, Lucy, Juan, Adelaida, and Luz are not six names just pulled from a hat. They are six Latin American entrepreneurs who are getting ahead using small loans, savings, and microinsurance that protects what they are building. They are six of the 2 million people served by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF).

No one is poor, even though 836 million people are extremely poor, and are sick from poverty, hungry from poverty, unequal from poverty and silenced by poverty, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

A simple cell phone can make a huge difference in the lives of the billions of people who live in the world’s least developed countries. There, apps aren’t only resources for work and entertainment, but tools to improve the health, security and income of the poorest.

If a person’s tweets reflect their interests, there can be little doubt as to what makes Martin Ravallion tick. His account directs followers to articles on the exodus of Syria’s refugees; the importance of the world’s poorest having access to information; campaigns to tackle child malnutrition. Ravallion, an economist, is aware that his vision of economic science “is not shared by the majority.” And he quotes historian Max Hartwell: “Economics is, in essence, the study of poverty.”

With the aim of reinforcing financial inclusion and the fight against poverty, Financiera Confianza – an entity of BBVA Microfinance Foundation – was formed in Peru. The results so far are very significant and most of its success derives from its clear mission: to promote the sustainable development of the most disadvantaged groups through responsible and productive finance. In other words, in keeping with BBVA’s purpose, Confianza seeks to place the opportunities of this new era within reach of everyone.

1 dollar a day is the threshold of extreme poverty, below which it is impossible for a person to survive. This was one of the main conclusions of the Australian economist, Martin Ravallion, who has won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Development Cooperation category.

Australian economist Martin Ravallion has been distinguished with the BBVA Foundation’s Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Development Cooperation for revolutionizing the fight against poverty by creating reliable indicators to measure it. In 1991 he established at one dollar a day the minimum amount that a person needs to survive, which helped establish for the first time specific goals to eliminate extreme poverty globally. After the latest update, the international poverty line is set at US$1.90 a day.