Fintech

Garanti BBVA Digital Asset’s crypto app, ‘Garanti BBVA Crypto’ was recently presented the award for ‘Pioneers of Digital Finance’ by KPMG Turkey and the Financial Innovation and Technology Association (FINTR).

In the past two years, BBVA added 7,187 professionals in the data and technology field to its workforce - a figure it plans to increase in 2024 with 2,700 new hires. Of this amount, 1,225 will take place in Spain for the bank’s headquarters in Madrid, Bilbao and Barcelona. Technology talent has become a key aspect of the Group’s digital strategy.

BBVA Spark, the bank for high-growth companies, has arranged a €15 million 'Venture Debt' facility for Cabify, the Spanish mobility company, which was launched 12 years ago in Madrid and became Spain's first unicorn in 2018. The proceeds will go toward fast-tracking the execution of Cabify's strategic plan, which focuses on boosting sustainable and affordable urban mobility.

There is a staggering $2.5 trillion global trade finance gap that mainly affects SMEs in emerging countries, limiting their ability to access new business opportunities. Helping businesses to bridge this finance gap, supply chain fintech Twinco Capital is today announcing it has secured an additional €50 million facility with BBVA Spark to accelerate growth.

Several innovation hubs across Latin America paint a picture of a bubbling but unevenly distributed entrepreneurial landscape: Brazil's biggest city accumulates a growing number of unicorns, while Lima is trying to carve out a niche for itself. With sectors such as fintech and e-commerce leading innovation and growing support from investors, Latin America is putting on a strong show on the international stage.

From finance to pharmaceuticals, an increasing number of companies from different industries are embracing the opportunities that quantum computing opens. Participants at a recent BBVA Open Talks explored the collaboration needed between researchers, companies and new professionals to take a leap into the next technological era and fully leverage its advantages.

Atom, the UK's first app-based bank, has raised more than £75m in new equity (around €90m)¹. Together with Toscafund and Infinity Investment Partners, BBVA has led this round, which is still open to other shareholders of the company. BBVA has once again shown its support for the Atom project and team, of which it has been a shareholder since 2015 and which it has supported in all its share capital increases. BBVA is currently the main shareholder, with a 39% holding.

BBVA has reached an agreement to invest $300 million (about €263 million¹) in Neon, a Brazilian digital bank founded in 2016 that aims to improve access to financial services for individuals, self-employed and small businesses in its country. Neon has 15 million registered accounts. The investment takes place in a context of unprecedented technological disruption, with solid growth of digital and innovative models, particularly in financial services. In addition to a clear commitment to innovation, this investment allows BBVA to gain exposure to retail banking in Brazil, a market with one of the highest potential in the world.

Technology will continue to redouble the capacity of digital businesses in 2022 and will bring opportunities to the world to liberalise data, mitigate climate change, look after people's health, advance education and even create parallel universes.

The Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem has grown and matured this year, with the fintech sector leading the way and a considerable boost from investors. While Madrid and Barcelona continue to dominate the national landscape, the Basque Country, Valencia and Malaga have increasingly prominent roles to play, and regions like the Canary Islands and Galicia are working hard to make a name for themselves. A tour of these areas shows the wealth of opportunities for innovation and the diversity of sectors.

BBVA and 500 Global have signed an agreement for 500 Global to develop an Intelligence Platform that would support BBVA’s ability to identify new startups, technologies and emerging trends with the potential to impact the future of the most innovative industries, and by extension, the finance sector. The new BBVA-500 Intelligence Platform will attempt to promote new collaborations and pilot projects between startups and the bank.

BBVA comes first in the ranking of the most influential brands in the financial technology conversation on social networks, created by Onalytica. This company, specialized in connecting brands with influencer communities, highlights BBVA for being the first company of reference in the creation and generation of fintech thought leadership content on.

The world is moving towards sustainable economic models which by 2030 could create economic opportunities worth $12 trillion a year. Through technologies such as advanced data analytics, blockchain or artificial intelligence, fintech can help companies to evaluate and reduce their environmental impact, and investors to channel their operations towards more sustainable assets.

BBVA, which first invested in the fintech in 2018, participated in a new capital increase, part of which was used to fund the acquisition of payments specialist Contis. The new funding round will allow Solarisbank, which recently launched operations in Spain, France and Italy to expedite growth in the embedded finance market.

Decentralized finance is a blockchain-based set of applications that, in principle, need no intermediaries to work. These financial products have similar characteristics to traditional services and their boom period could, to some extent, change the financial sector and give rise to both opportunities and challenges.

No venture fund can reveal all its secrets, is the first thing Propel says when asked how it selects the startups in which it wants to invest. But it does recognize that there are elements that are as clear a sign as any to detect a great company.

Endeavor, the global entrepreneurship organization, convened four European banks at its event 'Leading Innovation in Financial Services' to seek synergies and formulas that promote innovation. Ainhoa Campo, global manager of Open Innovation at BBVA, pointed to the “robust growth” of fintech’s ecosystem in southern Europe.

José Luis Elechiguerra, a chemical engineer, born in Mexico and with more than 12 years of experience at BBVA, recently took on the role of the Global Head of Engineering and Organization at the BBVA Group.

Recently arrived from BBVA USA where he was in charge of the Client Solutions area, Elechiguerra has accepted the responsibility of being the technological enabler for the bank’s strategy. The way he sees it, without technology it is impossible to talk about sustainability, or helping customers make the best financial decisions, or any other objective set by the BBVA Group. His greatest challenges include consolidating the global application development platform, continuing to explore the potential of cloud computing, helping to make data available to be a smarter bank, and further developing the agile work model so that it expands across the entire organization.

All of this, while continuing to watch the major digital competitors and fintech companies in the rearview mirror - from whom he has learned that banks must be faster in responding to customers’ new demands, as Elechiguerra explains in this interview.

Atom bank has confirmed that its £40m raise will be led by Toscafund Asset Management LLP and BBVA. As the bank heads towards profitability, the £40m raise includes an offer to participate for qualifying shareholders in new ‘A’ class shares in Atom priced at 60 pence.

In 2015, the European Parliament passed the new digital payment services directive, more commonly known as PSD2. The directive laid the groundwork for the emergence of the open banking concept: a solution to allow contextualized access to banking services, wherever and whenever needed. The regulatory framework set forth by PSD2 has driven a true transformation of the financial sector itself and changed how financial services are viewed.

As part of its work around helping people better understand their financial health and make better financial decisions, BBVA USA recently launched BBVA Insights in its online banking and mobile banking app.

Acquired by BBVA in 2016, the Finnish neobank Holvi will continue its activity led by one of his co-founders, Tuomas Toivonen.

BBVA plans to invest as much as $150 million in new capital to support Propel, bringing its total commitment to over $400 million, including its previous investment in 2016. The announcement builds on the initial successful relationship established five years ago, which has enabled Propel to partner with leading innovators such as Coinbase, DocuSign, Hippo, Guideline, and Neon.

Central bank-backed digital currencies, such as the potential digital euro and digital yuan, may become a reality in the coming years. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, these currencies promise less volatility and greater security. In addition, they will have the support of their respective monetary institutions, responsible for ensuring financial stability.

Pressure to get on board with remote working, adapting to the changes in a market revolutionised by the pandemic, and dealing with customers who have new and urgent needs. Startups have faced unprecedented challenges in 2020, but their digital DNA has helped them make fast decisions to handle these tests.

BBVA is partnering with technology companies to be closer to its clients, who are starting to turn to third party digital vendors to cover their financial needs. "We see these partnerships as a way of growing our customer base,” stated Carlos Torres Vila, Group Executive Chairman of BBVA, speaking at a virtual panel discussion with Marcelo Claure, CEO of Softbank, that took place on the last day of South Summit.

Azlo, a provider of digital banking and business services for small businesses, is seeing a surge in new account openings in 2020 in the midst of the “Covid Economy” that is spurring new entrepreneurs into action. The digital business banking service—built from day one to serve the needs of small business owners—today announced it has doubled its customer count, year-to-date, and is launching a new subscription service, Azlo Pro, designed to further meet the needs of entrepreneurs around the U.S. by saving them time and money.

In early August, BBVA USA announced it would be one of a few early adopter banks collaborating with Google on a digital bank account to be offered via Google Pay and launched in early 2021.

BBVA USA today announced that it is collaborating with Google to offer consumers a digital bank account through Google Pay, continuing its focus on innovation in the financial industry.

solarisBank, the German technology company with a banking license, has today announced a fresh €60 million investment injection to enable it to continue its growth plans.