Other milestones during the year are summarized below:
- BBVA in Mexico has created Consumer Finance Mexico, aimed at reinforcing the franchise’s leadership in car loans. This unit will provide an innovative strategy for financing vehicle distribution and acquisition that will meet the needs of both auto dealers and retail customers.
- The signing of a strategic agreement to sponsor the Mexican soccer league, which since 2013 and for the next three years will be called Liga BBVA Bancomer. This agreement not only supports sport, but also strengthens the Group’s commitment to Mexico.
- Creation of the Bancomer University to enable the bank’s partners to increase their educational quality and level and to complete their high-school, graduate and even post-graduate studies. This initiative will undoubtedly result in an increase in professionalism and thus in an improvement of the range of products and services offered.
- BBVA has been chosen as one of the “Best Companies to Work for” in Latin America by the international consultancy Great Place To Work (GPTW), in the multinationals category. This ranking only includes the 25 best companies out of over 2,200 participating companies from 20 countries. In Mexico, the award has been granted to BBVA Bancomer, Seguros Bancomer and Multiasistencia.
- BBVA in Mexico has strengthened its commitment to SMEs by concluding a strategic alliance with Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior (Bancomext) to offer loans in dollars to exporters and local currency finance for direct and indirect exporters and importers at very competitive rates. As a result, BBVA Bancomer has become a major lender to SMEs in Mexico. It has received an award for its efforts from the National Institute for Entrepreneurs (INADEM), which has also recognized it as the bank that lends most money to entrepreneurs. Bancomer has also signed an agreement with FedEx, Microsoft and the Monterrey Institute of Technology to offer SMEs the first integrated range of financial services, advice on transactions and logistics, promotion of the use of information technology and training for employees. This alliance came into force on June 1, 2013.
- In mutual and pension fund products, BBVA Bancomer has worked in partnership with Franklin Templeton to develop a mutual fund that allows customers to diversify their investments in shares and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and participate in other asset classes with great growth potential. In partnership with Pioneer Investments, it has also launched another fund that invests in shares listed on the U.S. NASDAQ index. In addition, BBVA Bancomer has launched a new family of mutual funds, called “Fondos Vida+”, targeted at companies with employee pension funds. This has allowed BBVA Bancomer to consolidate its position as the institution with the greatest cover and variety of mutual funds, broadening its range of pension cover with these four new types.
- In the area of corporate responsibility, BBVA Bancomer has continued in 2013 with its financial literacy program “Adelante con tu futuro” (Forward with your Future), which has completed its fifth year, with major progress being made in consumer behavior and the level of banking penetration among the population. Through this initiative, a total of 2,323,949 workshops have been given, with a number of 676,341 partecipants. The BBVA Bancomer Foundation also continues to be very active with its educational support programs. Through these initiatives, more than 43,650 scholarships have been granted over the last 10 years, making the Foundation the only private institution in the country that offers an extensive educational support program. In the first quarter of 2013 it signed an agreement with Colegio de México whereby it will provide financial aid packages for the best students in the graduate, master’s and PhD programs offered by this institution. The “Por los que se quedan” (For those left behind) program has been strengthened and expanded with the creation of the “Becas Adelante” scholarships, whose aim is to support secondary school students to continue with their high-school studies.
- Lastly, with regard to prizes and awards (apart from those already mentioned in this chapter), the investment bank JP Morgan has awarded BBVA Bancomer the “Quality Recognition Award” for its international transfers, where it achieved an accuracy rate of 99.54% in deliveries. This award underlines the efficiency and customer-centric approach of BBVA Bancomer. It is also the only Latin American bank to receive this award for the tenth year in a row.
