Awards for Excellence 2019
Ever-larger investments in digital banking have been an important part of European banks’ efforts to cut costs. At the same time, digital banking is central to their attempts to establish a growth story.
Western Europe’s best digital bank, BBVA, has an advantage, thanks to its early focus on digitalization under former executive chairman Francisco Gonzalez. When Gonzalez’ successor Carlos Torres Vila took up the baton in January, the benefits were already clear. Other banks in Europe and elsewhere cite the Spanish firm as one of those to beat in the digital game.
One of the first things the bank did was to make as many of its products self-service as possible – there were close to 1,000 of them in 2018. By the end of the year it reached its digital tipping point, with more than half of its clients globally using online channels, up from just over a third in 2016.
Its mobile customers have increased even more rapidly, up from 12% in 2016 to 23% at the end of 2018; and in Spain, 45% of sales took place on digital channels last year, up from 17% in 2016.