Damian Peachey

One of the keys to success for an API platform is that it needs to be an independent business, set up to encourage financial innovation, according to Shamir Karkal, BBVA’s Head of Open APIs.

Atom Bank, the UK's first bank built exclusively for mobile and in which BBVA has a 29.5% stake,  launched residential mortgages - its first consumer lending product - which allows customers to manage the process from offer to completion through the Atom app - the only UK mortgage provider to do this.

Political events have been to the fore in 2016, and discussions at yesterday’s "Challenges for the Future of Banking"  (CFB) event, hosted by the IESE Navarra Business School in London*, reflected this. Commenting on the rumored bonfire of U.S. banking regulations by the incoming Trump administration, one speaker said: “I don’t want the Volcker Act (which prohibits American banks from trading on their own behalf) repealed - the re-organization would be too disruptive.”

"Your data is brilliant," pronounced Martina King, CEO of Featurespace, to the audience at 2016 FT Banking Summit, held this year at London’s Intercontinental Park Lane. Marco Bressan, Chief Data Scientist at BBVA and responsible for helping the bank become a data-driven business, talked about the volume of data at the bank’s disposal.

Which of these is most likely to happen in financial services?

1. Self-insuring products?
2. Drone-based banking?
3. API banking platforms?

With the final presidential debate in Las Vegas wrapped up and the entourage moved on, a new show with an arguably larger supporting staff is heading into town. Now in its’ 5th year, Money20/20 will host over 10 000 guests over four days this week, eager to learn about how technology is changing digital financial services and meet the people behind it. So what are the things to look out for at this key fixture on the fintech calendar?

BBVA’s Digital Transformation program received a vote of approval from its peers when Teppo Paavola, Head of New Digital Business, was named 'Personality of the Year' in The Digital Banking Club (TDBC) Power 50 - nominated by the TDBC’s 8,000 - plus members from across European financial services. Teppo was joined in the Power 50 - described as the 'The Who’s Who of European Digital Banking' -  by Derek White,  BBVA's Global Head of Customer Solutions.

Atom Bank - Britain’s only app-based digital bank - today opened its doors to all eligible customers in the U.K., offering everyone the opportunity to download its app and open a savings account.

Simple, the US-based technology company that’s changing the way people bank, today announced the beta of Simple Shared - an account for people with shared financial goals. Open for waitlist registration here , Simple Shared allows two people - whether romantically involved, good friends or just backpacking buddies - to use Simple’s unique features like Safe-to-Spend and Goals to help them reach their dreams.

Seven UK financial technology start-ups have been named among the finalists in the 2016 BBVA Open Talent European final - the competition, now in its’ eighth year, that looks to support the new businesses that are going to change financial services for the benefit of the consumer and for society.

Having closed its doors at the end of July to take off on the BBVA World Tour, El Celler de Can Roca re-opened in the demonstration theatre of Westminster Kingsway College (WKC) for one morning only, giving a selected audience of 40 guests a ‘Masterclass’ - a  sneak preview of the cuisine that will be served this week on the London leg of the tour.

El Celler de Can Roca has announced a partnership with the prestigious Westminster Kingsway College catering school to help with its forthcoming pop-up at London’s Café Royal.

Propel Venture Partners, the independent venture capital firm in which BBVA has invested $250 million, has announced that it is the lead investor in a funding round for Guideline, an online 401 (k) platform in the US. The investment, part of a $7 million Series A round, is one of four made by Propel since its foundation in February and the first in which Propel has been the lead investor.

So, another year’s WIRED Money , together with BBVA, over and what have we learnt from this gathering of individuals and businesses looking to change the world of financial services through technology?

‘Complex products which have relied on face-to-face sales - that’s where we’re going to see  the next fintech innovation,’ said Jay Reinemann, Managing Partner of Propel Venture Partners and one of the guests discussing the state of European fintech at a breakfast this morning kicking off this year’s WIRED Money at the British Museum in London.

This August, the Roca brothers, Spanish culinary heroes and owners of Girona’s legendary El Celler de Can Roca restaurant, will be coming to London for an exclusive pop-up at the iconic Hotel Café Royal as part of the BBVA World Tour

The Spring IIF event always brings together a collection of the highest-profile figures in financial services and cutting edge topics, and this year in Madrid has been no exception. With panels on ‘regtech’ and alternative lending, as well as the views of BBVA’s Chairman Francisco González and Executive Chairman of Santander Ana Botín, the event is very much the contemporary face of finance. For fans of distributed ledger technology, there was  one highly anticipated panel - ‘Banking and Blockchain’ . Boasting a panel featuring some of Blockchain’s biggest names - Digital Asset Holdings’ Blythe Masters, UBS’s Axel Lehmann and BBVA’s Teppo Paavola, it was a packed conference room for a session on the potential of Blockchain in the banking industry . BBVA was lucky enough to sneak in at the back, and as the panel progressed, picked out the following points:

On June 23, WIRED Money, the day-long event which brings together some of the most significant figures involved in the global change in digital financial services, returns to London’s British Museum. Partnering with BBVA for the second year running, WIRED Money has become a key fixture in the events calendar because of the quality of the speakers and delegates, its grasp of the themes that are going to shape the future of the industry and its platform for the brightest businesses of tomorrow. So what’s going to be special about this year’s event? Here are the 4 things to look out for at WIRED Money 2016.

With the inaugural Money 20/20 Europe -where some of the people trying to change financial services using technology get together- at an end, we thought we’d share some of our stand-out moments from four days of delegates, speakers, panels, press releases and meetings. From an embarrassment of fintech riches in Copenhagen, we’ve taken six learnings home with us.

Atom, which is aiming to launch the U.K.'s first mobile-only bank, is announcing the introduction of machine-learning software into its customer care team to enable fast in-app resolution of client queries.

Propel Venture Partners (Propel)  is a new independent venture capital (VC) firm investing BBVA’s money in the startup companies that are using technology to change financial services for the benefit of the customer. Propel intends to be the go-to VC firm for entrepreneurs looking for a long-term, supportive partners as well as capital. Here are seven things you need to know about Propel:

2015 was arguably the year of financial technology - digital ways of delivering financial services offering a faster, more convenient and more useful experience to customers by combining platforms, channels and technology. Terms such as Unicorn, Blockchain, APIs and Accelerators became part of everyday conversation, companies such as TransferWise in the UK and OnDeck in the US began to eat into mainstream markets such as remittances and lending and capital rushed to embrace the investment opportunity offered by start-ups attempting digital disruption of financial services. For example, the UK, according to figures from London and Partners, had attracted $554 million of fintech investment by September 2015, compared to $487 million for the whole of 2014.