Financial authorities will soon begin an unprecedented countdown. In 2018, fintech became an entrenched priority for the financial sector, and a multitude of strategies emerged to address the challenges of digitization. In 2019, financial authorities should take action and implement a global approach to the challenges of the new era. This is the conclusion detailed in BBVA Research’s latest report, ‘Financial Regulation Outlook 1Q19’.

BBVA’s Group Executive Chairman Carlos Torres Vila explained just why cooperation between banks and the fintech ecosystem is key. He also made a powerful case for a G20 coordinated approach to digital regulation to foster innovation and drive competition at an event in Paris, alongside the IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde.

Google recently obtained a payment license in Ireland and Lithuania in order to offer payment services. Alipay, the financial division of Alibaba, received a similar license in Luxembourg. Facebook has had one since 2017. These licenses open the door to Internet giants operating as payment service providers across Europe, allowing them to manage card payments and transfers, for example. Is this merely the first step to them becoming banks?

So-called “stable cryptocurrencies” such as Tether and DAI have emerged in response to the volatility of virtual currencies like bitcoin and ether.

BBVA backed fintech investment fund Propel Venture Partners has welcomed a new business to its portfolio - and it’s first investment into India. The fund has taken part in the $6.2m Series A funding round in Groww, a fintech business looking to change the way in which people on the subcontinent invest.

We recently caught up with serial entrepreneur Joaquín Ayuso de Paul, CEO and founder of Denizen - a fintech company incubated in BBVA's New Digital Businesses unit. Denizen has created the first truly global bank account for expats.

U.K. digital banking disruptor Atom has signed up with the Bacs payment system to boost its offering and enable its customers to offer direct debits for the first time.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a neurologic condition that causes people suffering from it to be dominated by anxiety and develop unwanted thoughts that they cannot get rid of. Researchers at the Universidad Carlos III are applying artificial intelligence techniques to detect which brain areas are affected by this disorder. Emilio Parrado, a data scientist at BBVA was one of the researchers that took part in the project and explains how machine learning can bring huge improvements to any activity, including finance.

According to a report by the independent research firm Forrester, 2019 will be the year that digital transformation aspirations translate into “pragmatic” actions.

Fintechs and major tech corporations have started rolling out new financial services that have the potential to severely disrupt the financial sector.  BBVA Research has just published “Digital Transformation and Competition in the Financial Sector,” a working paper that analyzes the regulatory challenges emerging in this new scenario to guarantee that customers can reap the benefits enabled by new technologies while ensuring fair competition conditions in an increasingly diverse ecosystem.