Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbaÅ‹ko βilˈβao βiθˈkaÊa arxenˈtaɾja] is a multinational Spanish banking group. It was formed from a merger of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria in 1999, and is the second largest bank in Spain. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. In 2007, the firm started an initiative to digitally transform the bank. Following implementation, it saw a 19% year-on-year increase in new customers. As of 2015, the total number of these clients stood at 14.8 million.
Credit ratings
As of March 2013 BBVA had the following debt ratings with the four major rating agencies:
Mergers and acquisitions
In February 2014, BBVA acquired Simple, a then four-year-old direct bank for 117 million. BBVA executive chairman, Francisco González, explained why banks must get with the technology program: "Some bankers and analysts think that Google, Facebook, Amazon or the like will not fully enter a highly regulated, low-margin business such as banking. I disagree. What is more, I think banks that are not prepared for such new competitors face certain death." The banking industry recognizes BBVA to be more pro-technology than many of its competitors.
International subsidiaries
- BBVA Francés
- BBVA Prevision AFP
- BBVA (Chile)
- BBVA (Colombia)
- BBVA Bancomer
- BBVA (Paraguay)
- BBVA Continental
- Garanti Bank
- BBVA Compass
- BBVA (Uruguay)
- BBVA Provincial
- Simple Finance Technology Corporation
U.S. sports market presence
On September 13, 2010 BBVA became an official sponsor of the NBA. From 2011 to 2014, BBVA sponsored the Birmingham Bowl, a postseason college football game played in Birmingham, Alabama, during which time the game was known as the BBVA Compass Bowl. For the first three editions under the sponsorship contract, the game featured teams from the Big East Conference and Southeastern Conference. Following the 2013 split of the Big East along football lines, the former Big East berth was inherited by that conference's football-sponsoring offshoot, the American Athletic Conference. On May 12, 2012, BBVA Compass Stadium opened in downtown Houston, Texas. It was built as the home for the Houston Dynamo soccer team, and from its opening has also hosted the Texas Southern University football team. Since 2014, the stadium has also hosted home games of the Houston Dash, a team in the National Women's Soccer League that is owned and operated by the Dynamo.
See also
- BBVA Rising Stars Challenge NBA exhibition basketball game
- BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award annual science and humanities award since 2009
- Big Four (Spanish banking)
References
External links
- Official website
- BBVA Foundation (in Spanish)
