The highlight of the quarter was the completion of the purchase of Unnim Banc, S.A. on July 27, 2012, after receiving authorization from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition and the Spanish National Commission for Competition. This acquisition strengthens BBVA’s commitment in Catalonia and doubles its market share in one of the most attractive markets and with bigger growth potential in Spain.
On the commercial side, this quarter saw the launch of Adiós Comisiones, the plan that eliminates account fees and fees charged for debit or credit cards, and offers additional benefits to customers in other financial products for their loyalty to the Bank. The campaign is part of BBVA’s range of transactional products, which offers significant advantages to all customers who maintain a flow of collections and payments with BBVA. It is one of the most competitive initiatives in the market and one of the Bank’s main levers for growing its customer base in Spain. The success of the plan has been reflected in the rise of customer share for the second year in a row reaching a FRS market share of 10.6% as main supplier, according to the latest information available (September 2012).
In the insurance business, a new car insurance was launched in September with the aim of increasing cross-selling through high added-value products and increasing the loyalty of insurance policyholders. It has a very competitive price and attributes that sets it apart from the competition (including a free door-to-door service for the vehicle roadworthiness test (ITV) and for repairs, the BBVA commitment to quality, free choice of garage, and an additional 5% discount for a second vehicle insured in the family). In this way, BBVA has not only consolidated its position as a global provider of insurance solutions for its customers, but also taken a further step in diversifying its lines of business.
The CalidadX3 program was launched to boost best banking practices and the culture of excellence. It is based on the customer-centric philosophy and aims to raise the Bank’s differentiation by: 1) being the most recommended bank in the market and 2) improving levels of customer satisfaction. The Liga Calidad BBVA (BBVA Quality League) was launched during the quarter to boost this ambitious plan. This is a competition between BBVA branches for excellence in customer service.
Finally, BBVA continues to make progress in developing its multichannel distribution model. The number of customers choosing BBVA Contigo as their main channel for relations with BBVA continues to increase. A total of 290,000 customers are already remotely managed by approximately 300 specialized advisers.