“If you look at who’s successful in the digital world, in any industry, it's the companies that are global”
BBVA Executive Chairman Carlos Torres Vila has reiterated the importance of the bank operating globally if it is to meet its purpose of bringing the age of opportunity to everyone.
The bank executive made the statement as part of an interview with prominent industry magazine Euromoney, in which he also called out the criticality of supporting customers and clients to make better decisions around their money.
Just a day after BBVA formally unveiled its new global brand, Torres Vila is quoted in Euromoney: “If you look at who’s successful in the digital world, in any industry, it's the companies that are global.” He added. “You will not find one that is pursuing any different approach than a global one. In banking, including retail banking, that’s the direction of travel. If you’re able to make that move now, you’re better off.”
The BBVA Executive Chairman then explained that part of this shift was already underway, thanks to the global approach the bank takes to building products and services. This unified strategic initiative means BBVA looks to build things once, but deploy them multiple times to individual countries.
However that shift in approach was also the result of BBVA’s focus on digitisation - which had several levels of impact, as well as allowing the bank to enjoy the benefits of scale based on its international diversification.
For example, asked about BBVA securing top global spot in the Forrester Research annual assessment of mobile banking apps - which BBVA recently won again in Europe for the third year in a row - Torres Vila said the accolade was really just the tip of the iceberg when it came to digital transformation.
Instead he told Euromoney: “Our purpose is to bring this age of opportunity to everyone – and everyone means society, and the challenges that society has because of the lack of sustainability in the environment, the lack of sustainability socially. It’s about how you think strategically about your role and your value added, your reason for being.”
He added that banks have the chance to move beyond merely keeping money safe, handling it, lending it to others and offering a return on it. He explained. “The big opportunity is to move from this infrastructure of money value proposition to solving a deeper problem that people have around money, which is making the right decisions.”