BBVA launches a cutting-edge feature in Spain to encourage adoption of residential self-consumption by estimating savings
BBVA has built a new advisory tool into its app. With the help of strategic partners, the app now provides personalized guidance on how to lower energy consumption by installing solar panels in family homes. This functionality enables bank customers to see an estimate of how much they could save on their electricity bill thanks to self-consumption, without having to enter any data if they already have their home registered and their electricity bill settled by direct debit. In addition, the solution shows the estimated cost if solar panels are installed, the number of panels required for savings, the investment required, the option of ordering them digitally from the bank's energy partner through a turnkey service, and terms for access to BBVA credit. In the first quarter of 2023, the bank funded nearly 4,000 installations, which represents growth of 67 percent compared to the same period last year.
The solution offers the possibility of evaluating the commitment to energy efficiency as a forward-looking investment. The tool enables users to intuitively simulate the electricity bill savings resulting from solar panels on a single-family home, as selected by the user. BBVA customers who have their electricity bills paid by direct debit and access this experience from their overall position will automatically—thanks to Big Data—have access to the current cost of electricity supply, the approximate difference in cost they would face if they opt for self-consumption, and the estimated percentage they can save with solar panels.
Based on the user’s home address, BBVA (in conjunction with strategic partners) provides advice on the number of panels recommended to save on electricity bills based on estimated annual consumption, hourly usage profile, surface area of the roof of the house, and hours of sunlight that can be received. The BBVA app also offers an estimate of the annual savings that would result from the adoption of this energy efficiency technology, the cost of the investment, and the time needed for the investment to pay for itself, taking into account any subsidies for self-consumption that the customer may be eligible for. From that point on, without leaving the bank's digital environment, BBVA can offer the necessary finance for the installation based on the data collected, on attractive terms.
In addition, this functionality enables bank customers living in properties managed by homeowners' associations to know the number of solar panels that can be installed on the roof of the building and the kilowatts of energy that can be generated by this self-consumption source.
This tool will soon be available for non-BBVA customers, who will be able to simulate energy savings from the bank's website just by entering their electricity bill and the location of their home. In the current context, this functionality provides users with useful insights to help them save money and improve their financial health while reducing their carbon footprint.
Other functionalities: calculating carbon dioxide emissions
BBVA's app features a carbon footprint calculator that enables customers to know the impact of their actions on the environment and get an estimate of what their monthly savings could be if they take a range of measures, estimated according to the customer's electricity and gas consumption, which is the second biggest expense in the home.
Without needing to enter any information, via data analytics the app factors in the utility bills linked to BBVA's accounts as well as fuel expenses so as to report the carbon dioxide emissions that the customer emits into the atmosphere.