Strategy

Strategy

The current macroeconomic environment is marked by geopolitical tensions, a normalisation of interest rates and an increasing ageing of the population, which will generate challenges and opportunities in the financial sector. In addition, the rest of the long-term global trends on which BBVA’s strategy is based and which play a critical role in the transformation of the economy have continued to consolidate and evolve. The financial system is navigating an increasingly complex competitive landscape, with the rise of new digital competitors, such as neobanks, and non-bank players disrupting traditional models.

 

Digitization has continued to solidify across most sectors, ushering in a new era of disruption driven by artificial intelligence (AI). AI is redefining competitive dynamics across numerous industries, including the financial sector, and its impact on the entire value chain is creating significant opportunities:

  • Hyper-personalization of value propositions.
  • Process automation, expected to have a profound effect on middle and back-office tasks, improving data control, productivity, and customer experience.
  • The continued advancement of technologies such as blockchain, quantum computing, and cloud processing, which are opening up a transformative era of opportunities for society and the financial industry.

Sustainability will remain a key driver of economic growth:

  • Investments in the transition to a decarbonized economy are gaining momentum, fueled by increasing energy demand and the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy sources. Additionally, profitability in emerging technologies is rising, thanks to ongoing innovation. It is currently estimated that approximately half of the emissions reductions required will come from technologies that are still in their early stages and unproven on a large scale.
  • Banks will play a crucial role in this transition by channeling investments and providing guidance to their clients as they move toward a decarbonized and more energy-efficient economy in the context of growing energy demand.
  • Moreover, investments aimed at enhancing production processes and improving the value chains of companies that contribute to preserving natural capital are also on the rise. Reversing the depletion of natural capital is essential due to the significant economic and financial impacts it entails.

 

BBVA’s strategy revolves around a single Purpose: “Support your drive to go further”.

  • Support means being consistently present, especially during life’s most critical moments. It involves providing ongoing assistance to customers, actively listening to them, understanding their needs, and adapting accordingly. At the heart of this is empathy: it allows BBVA to connect deeply with its customers, aligning with their concerns, aspirations, and dreams, and becoming a trusted ally that genuinely understands what its customers need.
  • Your drive. BBVA understands that behind every project, every goal, and every step forward lies something deeper: a drive. It’s that inner strength that inspires people to excel, pursue their ambitions, and believe in a brighter future. It’s the determination to keep moving forward, the motivation fueling them every day.
  • To go further embodies the spirit of progress and innovation. It reflects an attitude that is deeply ingrained in BBVA’s DNA, always striving to anticipate, to envision today what the future holds, and to approach tomorrow with optimism. This ability to foresee and adapt creates immense value for the individuals and businesses that choose BBVA as their trusted partner to achieve their dreams.

 

The Group is based on solid values: customer comes first, we think big and we are one team. These values and their associated behaviors are the guide for action in all decisions made by all the people who are part of the BBVA Group and help them make the Purpose come true:

The customer comes first

BBVA places customers at the center of its activity, before anything else. The Bank aspires to take a holistic customer vision, not just financial. This means working in a way which is empathetic, agile and with integrity, among other things.

  • We make our customers’ needs our own: we take on our customers’ needs as our own, responding swiftly and effectively. We anticipate challenges and provide continuous support.
  • We are empathetic: we put ourselves in others’ shoes, listen attentively, tailor our response to their needs, and act with respect to ensure everyone feels valued.
  • We have integrity: we always act with honesty, in compliance with the law and BBVA’s internal regulations, without tolerating inappropriate behavior. We are a trusted partner, providing support with transparency and responsibility.

We think big

It is not about innovating for its own sake but instead to have a significant impact on the lives of people, enhancing their opportunities. BBVA Group is ambitious, constantly seeking to improve, not settling for doing things reasonably well, but instead seeking excellence as standard.

  • We are ambitious: we drive a positive impact on people’s lives and society as a whole. We support their desire for growth and progress.
  • We are innovators: we stay ahead of challenges by offering agile and effective solutions. We create value-driven proposals to help our customers go further.
  • We exceed customer’s expectations: we create effective solutions that exceed customer expectations. We help individuals and businesses reach their full potential.

We are one team

People are what matters most to the Group. All employees are owners and share responsibility in this endeavor. We tear down silos and trust in others as we do ourselves. We are BBVA.

  • I am committed: I take on the bank’s objectives as my own, feeling a genuine connection with BBVA’s values and purpose, which drives me to work with passion and enthusiasm.
  • I trust others: we collaborate with generosity and trust, ensuring clear and respectful communication. Together, we drive the growth of our customers and our team.
  • I am BBVA: we are a global and diverse team that shares a common purpose and creates a positive impact. We support, inspire, and drive people and businesses to reach further.

BBVA has defined six strategic priorities to drive its strategy, focusing on:

  • Differentiation.
  • Fullcommitment to growth and value creation.
  • Meaningful impact across the board.

 

1 – Embed a Radical Client Perspective in all we do
-It is the core of our strategy and impacts everything we do.
-The goal is to offer a value proposition focused on the needs of our clients and their financial health, ensuring a coherent, fluid and quality experience across all their channels.
-A new way of interacting with our clients with a focus on hyper-personalization and real-time contextualization, taking advantage of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
-Achieving excellence in execution, always being available and ensuring that 100% of interactions are positive.

 

2 – Boost sustainability as a growth engine
-BBVA was a pioneer in identifying the impact of sustainability on competitive dynamics in all industries, including both the environmental and social axis.
-Sustainability must become a driver of differential growth in the banking business, taking advantage of the need to finance investments to meet a growing demand for efficient and clean energy.
-Specialized advice tailored to each market segment and the transformation of risk processes are key to generating differential growth.

 
3 – Scale up all enterprise segments
-BBVA wants to be the benchmark bank for the business segment (SMEs, companies, institutions and large corporations, which will be a key driver of differential growth.
-We have great competitive advantages, such as our presence in 25 countries, which allows us to better meet the needs of global companies, and also our specialization in sustainability.
-A stronger corporate business that complements the retail business, offering a comprehensive universal banking proposal compared to new competitors with a presence only in the retail segment.
-BBVA wants to promote this priority, taking advantage of the radical focus on the customer, with specialized advice and through the continuous improvement of its digital capabilities and technological platforms, with a focus on optimizing risk processes to speed up response times.

 
4 – Promote a value and capital creation mindset
-We want to continue to advance in the concept of profitable growth, closely linked to our strategy and the generation of long-term value.
-All processes must consider value creation as a critical factor for decision-making. This implies changes in management models, incentives, monitoring and reporting. Initiatives such as balance sheet rotation are key to optimizing the use of capital and maximizing profitability, while allowing for a greater positive impact on the client.
-This priority reinforces the importance of low-capital consumption and high-value creation businesses such as: insurance, private banking, asset management and payment ecosystem.

 
5 – Unlock the potential of AI and innovation through data availability and Next Gen Tech
-Responsible use of data and new technologies has always been a key factor in BBVA’s strategy.
The availability of data is a critical step in being able to generate a differential impact throughout the value chain, both on customers, through a hyper-personalized proposal and added value, and on efficiency and control thanks to process automation.
-The evolution to new generation technologies (Next Gen) is essential to efficiently address all the requirements derived from hyper-personalization and increased interactions with customers.

 
6 – Strengthen our empathy, succeed as a winning team
-All of us who are part of the BBVA team are a fundamental factor in the execution of the strategy.
-We are a team that is proud to be part of BBVA, that connects with the purpose and values, that does not settle and always seeks excellence and a differential added value for the customer. For this reason, it is necessary to foster empathy throughout the organization to radically adopting the customer perspective.
-The new priorities require a team with a winning and ambitious character to continue leading the transformation.

The current macroeconomic environment is marked by geopolitical tensions, a normalisation of interest rates and an increasing ageing of the population, which will generate challenges and opportunities in the financial sector. In addition, the rest of the long-term global trends on which BBVA’s strategy is based and which play a critical role in the transformation of the economy have continued to consolidate and evolve. The financial system is navigating an increasingly complex competitive landscape, with the rise of new digital competitors, such as neobanks, and non-bank players disrupting traditional models.

 

Digitization has continued to solidify across most sectors, ushering in a new era of disruption driven by artificial intelligence (AI). AI is redefining competitive dynamics across numerous industries, including the financial sector, and its impact on the entire value chain is creating significant opportunities:

  • Hyper-personalization of value propositions.
  • Process automation, expected to have a profound effect on middle and back-office tasks, improving data control, productivity, and customer experience.
  • The continued advancement of technologies such as blockchain, quantum computing, and cloud processing, which are opening up a transformative era of opportunities for society and the financial industry.

Sustainability will remain a key driver of economic growth:

  • Investments in the transition to a decarbonized economy are gaining momentum, fueled by increasing energy demand and the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy sources. Additionally, profitability in emerging technologies is rising, thanks to ongoing innovation. It is currently estimated that approximately half of the emissions reductions required will come from technologies that are still in their early stages and unproven on a large scale.
  • Banks will play a crucial role in this transition by channeling investments and providing guidance to their clients as they move toward a decarbonized and more energy-efficient economy in the context of growing energy demand.
  • Moreover, investments aimed at enhancing production processes and improving the value chains of companies that contribute to preserving natural capital are also on the rise. Reversing the depletion of natural capital is essential due to the significant economic and financial impacts it entails.

 

Updated page 30 April 2025