Guided by values
BBVA Compass recently announced the launch of the digital BBVA Compass Express Personal Loan to customers and prospects across its footprint.* The timing of the announcement was auspicious given that it was released nearly one year after the date from when the bank booked its first ever end-to-end digital loan. Now, just over a year later, the bank has achieved a record for one-week consumer loan production, with online originations officially exceeding branch production in that same week.
BBVA Compass Head of Business Development Pepe Olalla says that the Express Personal Loan’s success underscores the bank’s continued digital transformation and focus on important values.
Olalla: The way our digital transformation translates to the products we produce is viewed through the lens of our values
“The way our digital transformation translates to the products we produce is viewed through the lens of our values, which include ‘Customer Comes First,’ ‘We Think Big’ and ‘One Team,’” said Olalla. “Express Personal Loan is a great representation of this approach; specifically, how we use our values to guide what form our transformation takes.”
Olalla said that while the team understood the value proposition of making a digital consumer loan like Express Personal Loan (“EPL”) — balances and consumer participation in these types of loans have both grown substantially — there was initial skepticism given the enormity of the task. It was then that the entirety of the bank — product development, risk, engineering, compliance, legal, fraud and marketing among them — all came together to solve a clear customer need.
Olalla: Everything showed that there was a market for a loan like EPL, and in fact, customers were demanding it
“Everything showed that there was a market for a loan like EPL, and in fact, customers were demanding it,” he said. “But building and rolling out a digital loan product from scratch was overwhelming, so we took it step-by-step, thinking, and executing, in a big way, without letting the obstacles derail us.”
Some of the obstacles Olalla pointed out - and part of the reason the bank took a year to fully roll out its digital capabilities to customers and prospects - were ensuring the user experience was nothing short of amazing and that it had the right risk and control framework in place to combat fraud.
Olalla: We took the necessary time to respond to and understand every bit of feedback and risk before launching digital
“We’ve been testing, learning and adjusting strategies since this loan launched in branches in 2015,” he said. “We took the necessary time to respond to and understand every bit of feedback and risk before launching digitally, including testing new markets, channels and customer segments, even as we learned from those already finding success in the market.”
Asked if he would take on such a massive undertaking again, Olalla said without question.
“This project - and its subsequent success - have proven that if we keep our values at the forefront, we will succeed in whatever we do, even that which we think is impossible.”
To learn more about the BBVA Compass Express Personal Loan, click here.**
Express Personal Loan Timeline
- March 2017
Fully digital solution for prescreened existing customers - July 2017
Extension to prescreened prospects in footprint - September 2017
Name changed from Signature Express to BBVA Compass Express Personal Loan - November 2017
First campaign targeting prospects out of footprint - February 2018
First digital open market pilot to both customers and prospects launched in Alabama - March 2018
The digital version of the BBVA Compass Express Personal Loan hits the open market for customers and non-customers across the bank’s footprint.*
*Excludes California
**All loans subject to approval, including credit approval