From January to March 2017, the BBVA Group obtained a net attributable profit of €1.2 billion, 69 % higher than the same period in 2016 (+79.2 % in constant terms). This makes it BBVA’s best results of the past seven quarters. The main factors that explain the growth are strong performance in recurring revenue, cost containment and lower impairments on financial assets.

“BBVA’s results for the January-March period show growth in all business areas, confirming BBVA’s ability to generate recurring revenues in any environment”. This is BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila’s statement regarding the Q1 earnings report released today by the company.

Running is now in vogue - so much so that every runner spends around €475 per year to practice the sport.

An estimated 54% of 15 year-old students in OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries say they feel “really bad” if they don’t go online, according to the organization´s report, PISA Results 2015: Students’ Well-Being.

 - Openpay is a Mexican startup that offers an advanced platform of physical and electronic payments for businesses. Created with software developers in mind, the platform offers a wide range of online payment solutions and functionalities, outstanding among which are its sophisticated anti-fraud models.

Currently, Openpay has a network of more than 15,000 payment reception points in Mexico, connected in real time through its Paynet network, and manages more than one million transactions a month. The Openpay platform is used by more than 1,000 businesses in Mexico, from startups to SMEs and large corporate clients.

- The synergies between BBVA Bancomer and Openpay will multiply the commercial capacities of both companies, complement their catalogue of products for corporate clients and allow them to strengthen their payment solutions.

- BBVA Bancomer supports the entrepreneur ecosystem through its Innovation Center and propels fintech companies with its Open Talent (OT) competition. It also promotes direct associations with startups to validate their business models and offers financial services to benefit customers. Openpay was a finalist in Open Talent 2015, in an event that involved 652 projects from 63 countries and close to 200 experts.

The economic slowdown in Latin America will come to an end this year, with a 1.1% growth rate in the region. Forecasts by BBVA Research estimate that in 2018, the region´s economy will continue to recover, with GDP expanding at the rate of 1.8%. This is still well below its potential, which is estimated at close to 3%.

According to data from Rastreator, published by Europa Press, 36.3% of loans in Spain are requested during the spring, while only 12.9% of the total number of loans are applied for in winter.

BBVA Francés officially opened its new corporate headquarters in Buenos Aires. The tower is the tallest building in the Catalinas I and II complex and is located in Retiro – one of the best neighborhoods in the capital, next to the financial district and Puerto Madero. “We reconfirm our long-term commitment to Argentina with the opening of the tower today because we believe in the Argentine people and in their future,” BBVA’s Global Executive Chairman said at the ceremony in Buenos Aires. Francisco González met with the country’s President, Mauricio Macri, earlier at the Casa Rosada.

BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila considers that “it’s an exciting time for the financial sector, due to everything that data and technology are allowing us to do.” In a conference held this Thursday in Madrid by the ABC-Deloitte Forum, he shared his upbeat view about the transformation journey that BBVA is on: “We want to turn data into opportunities for our customers”.