Awards for Excellence 2017
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This year BBVA wins Euromoney’s award for best bank for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Latin America for its dedication to transparency and to promoting financial literacy and inclusion.
Its leadership-driven transparency, clarity and responsibility initiative has involved transforming its communications to clients, whereby products and contracts throughout the region have been reduced to one-page explanatory documents that clearly outline risks.
“In emerging economies people are entering the financial system, and to do responsible banking we need to help them take financial decisions with full understanding,” says Antoni Ballabriga, global head of responsible business. “Financial education and transparency are the key fundamentals to build trust, our most important asset.”
That also entails financial education. BBVA is the only bank to partner with the OECD in financial literacy and runs workshops for individuals and companies (both clients and non-clients) in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
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Antoni Ballabriga, |
In addition, BBVA has an independent microfinance foundation headed up by Javier Flores. Under his leadership, BBVA is pushing the evolution of the micro-finance sector in the central and south American countries in which it operates. It provides financial services to 1.8 million customers and delivers loans to almost 1 million entrepreneurs, employing 3,650 loan officers, who work as mobile branches to bring finance to small entrepreneurs in hard-to-reach areas.
Innovation is often challenging because of the relatively low use of cellphone technology in some areas of the region. Last year, BBVA Microfinance Foundation worked with fintechs in different countries to create innovative solutions, such as online accounting tools, geo-referencing potential clients and credit scoring using utility payment history.
Measuring success is essential, says Flores: “We know getting out of poverty takes time. We want to be there, not just for the first loan but throughout an individual’s development. As such we measure not just the progress of a small business, but the evolution of the family – the education of the children, whether they are improving the home, the employment that is being generated.”
