BBVA reaches nearly a million digital sales in one month
“Developing better solutions for customers through technology,” is one of the goals of BBVA. And the bank is managing to achieve it. CEO Carlos Torres Vila, along with CFO Jaime Sáenz de Tejada, used the occasion of the presentation of bank’s second quarter 2017 results to offer some interesting data on the bank´s digital transformation.
The digitization of BBVA has very tangible results, such as the “significant volume” of sales through digital channels, which represent 22% of the total figure. Specifically, in the month of June, BBVA has reached “nearly a million units sold on digital channels, in just one month.”
A good example of the extent of the BBVA’s digital transformation is the number of customers who interact with the bank through digital channels. At the end of June, they numbered nearly 20 million, an increase of 22% in the year. Almost 14.5 million of these are mobile phone customers, whose numbers grew 42%. “We have reached a turning point, in which more than 50% of the customers are digital in Chile, Venezuela and Turkey,” the CEO said.
We have reached a turning point, in which more than 50% of the customers are digital in Chile, Venezuela and Turkey
This, in turn, translates into customers’ acquiring more and more products through digital channels, such as the mobile phone. The CEO of BBVA stressed that “in all the countries, we have very important digital sales figures.” He added that, practically “one in four units are sold through digital channels.” For example, in Spain, in the first six months of the year, BBVA sold as many units over digital channels as it did in all of 2016.
Practically one in four units are sold through digital channels
The data show that customers are in agreement with BBVA’s digitization strategy, as does the fact that BBVA’s mobile app in Spain has been singled out by Forrester Research as the best in the world.
The CEO of BBVA pointed out some of the new functionalities that the bank launched during the quarter. Specifically, he referred to the following: Star Seguros in Spain, a product that allows the customer to group his/her insurance policies together; BBVA Plan – Financial Goals, in Mexico, which allows the customer to save in order to reach specific goals; in the United States, the option for non-customers to obtain loans digitally; and in Turkey, MIA, an assistant that allows customers to speak to the application, through artificial intelligence.
CEO Carlos Torres Vila before the presentation of bank’s second quarter 2017 results - BBVA
“A good first semester”
Carlos Torres Vila emphasized that the profit and loss account of the second quarter, presented this past Thursday, consolidates the positive trend of the first three months of the year. Overall, he described it has “a good first semester,” in which BBVA obtained a net attributable profit of 2.306 billion euros, an increase of 25.9% over the same period in 2016.
Carlos Torres Vila said the profit from banking activity in Spain, of 670 million euros, shows a “very good growth, of 8%.” He also expressed his confidence that the improvement in the Spanish economy would end up translating into a greater volume of customer activity. BBVA Research expects Spain’s GDP to expand by 3.3% in 2017. “We’re pleased, we believe we have very solid, high-quality results in the second quarter, that strengthen the trend of the first quarter. We are confident and we hope that the third and fourth quarters will continue on this path, but we still have to work hard to achieve that,” he said.
We are confident and we hope that the third and fourth quarters will continue on this path, but we still have to work hard to achieve that
For his part, Jaime Sáenz de Tejada confirmed during the press conference that BBVA will hold an issue of senior, non-preferential debt during the remainder of the year. The CFO of BBVA said that “probably we will issue, during the second semester, about 2 billion euros, although we still haven`t defined a calendar.”