BBVA, #1 in mobile banking in Europe

Forrester underscored the fast pace of BBVA’s digital advances over the past two years, as well as the extensive transactional features and the outstanding marketing and sales initiatives that are available on the bank’s app. BBVA’s mobile banking received a total score of 87 points out of 100 - an all-time high in Forrester’s ranking. The European average is 69 points.

“Smartphones are becoming the main means of interaction with our customers. That’s why we are focused on developing and improving our products and services on our digital channels. It is a recognition of our effort to make our apps an extension of BBVA banking, where customers can perform any type of transaction easily, conveniently and efficiently,” says Derek White, Head of Customer Solutions at BBVA.

The study gives BBVA’s mobile banking the highest ranking for the way in which it engages across different channels and according to Forrester, the bank offers the most features to perform transactions. In this regard, BBVA’s app stands out thanks to features like “Mis metas”, which lets users design a savings plan for future goals, such as taking a trip or making a purchase; the possibility of comparing pension plans or allowing users to check how much they could afford to spend on a home through BBVA Valora.

Forrester says that leading banks, including BBVA, set themselves apart in the way that they allow to research and buy additional products in their apps. These banks use the context of a customer’s current product portfolio, location and other factors to offer personalized marketing and messages in their mobile apps. The report says BBVA goes one step further because its product catalog only displays products that are relevant to the customer’s financial situation.

Another area where BBVA’s app stands out (with the highest possible score of 100) is how easy it is to find account activity and the availability of next generation features like Online Onboarding on mobile phones, where it is one of the best in Europe.

According to Forrester, European banks with the highest scores have a multidisciplinary digital banking strategy that includes user experience teams, digital business and technology. This allows them to release incremental improvements every month for both functionalities and usability.

Increasingly mobile customers

BBVA currently has 13.5 million mobile customers, 41% more than last year, which shows customers’ increasingly intense use of mobile services. 19.3 million use digital channels.

BBVA’s digital sales have risen significantly thanks to the strength of its mobile banking. Since January 2017, digital sales using a cell phone have surpassed those on the website in Spain and Turkey. In fact, the percentage of digital transactions in the first three months of 2017 was 24% in Spain, and over 30% in Turkey. The bank’s other locations also saw notable growth, with 21.7% in the U.S.; 22.3% in South America and 13.6% in Mexico.

A benchmark study

Forrester’s study assess banks’ mobile banking services based on 39 functionality criteria and 15 usability criteria. The ultimate goal is to measure how each of these characteristics “meet customers’ needs and help them reach their goals,” says Forrester. This is the only study that uses specific metrics to measure usability.

The analysis includes 11 retail banks from different European countries. Forrester includes the banks they see as the most innovative in each European country, although the selection may vary from one year to the next. This year’s selection includes mBank and Zachodni WBK in Poland; BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole in France; Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit in Italy; Garanti Bankasi in Turkey; Deutsche Postbank in Germany; ING in the Netherlands; and BBVA and CaixaBank in Spain.