The current geopolitical context, combined with the urgent need to finance the green and digital transitions in Europe, makes it increasingly necessary to unlock the full potential of the EU’s currently fragmented capital markets. The goal is to make them more efficient and better equipped to compete with more developed markets elsewhere.

The digital revolution is transforming every economic sector—and financeis no exception. Cryptoassets, tokenization, and blockchain-basedtechnologies are accelerating an inevitable evolution. In this context,traditional banks face a historic opportunity: to lead this transformation bycombining their experience, credibility, and global reach with the agility andinnovation of the crypto ecosystem. The future isn’t about choosingbetween the old and the new—it’s about merging both worlds into aseamless experience.

From May 5 to 8, BBVA will organize the first FinAI Summit, featuring talks, panel discussions and master classes, in an event designed to be the key forum on how AI could reshape financial services and products, and how this could impact society at large. Speakers will include international experts such as Kay Firth-Butterfield, previously head of artificial intelligence at the World Economic Forum. The public can attend online by registering on the FinAI Summit website.

You can register for the event at this link

In the first quarter of 2025, BBVA channeled approximately €29 billion into sustainable business initiatives, marking a 55 percent increase on the same period in 2024. This figure is part of the bank’s new target of channeling €700 billion into the sustainable business between 2025 and 2029, more than  double its previous target and also raising the bar, given the shorter timeframe involved (five years versus eight).

Garanti BBVA reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2025. The bank earned TL 25.40 billion in net income, with total assets reaching TL 3.50 trillion, and cash and non-cash loans totaling TL 2.60 trillion. Customer deposits continued to be the main source of funding, accounting for 73 percent of all assets. The deposit base rose by 21.4 percent to TL 2.55 billion. Furthermore, Garanti BBVA achieved a return on average equity (ROAE) of 30.5 percent, and a return on average assets (ROAA) of 3.2 percent. Meanwhile, the bank maintained its strong capital position, with a capital adequacy ratio of 16.2 percent.*

*Not including the forbearance introduced by BRSA

BBVA's Turkish unit recently updated the design of its digital banking app, Garanti BBVA Mobile, to offer its customers a more personalized, user-friendly experience and a range of new smart features.

Garanti BBVA was once again selected for the world’s most prestigious occupational healthand safety award at the 2025 International Safety Awards, organized by the U.K.-based non-profit organization, the British Safety Council. Of the 350 Turkish organizations that applied for the award, Garanti BBVA was the only financial institution to receive the award for the sixth year in a row.

BBVA has successfully renewed the Tier IV Gold certification for its Data Processing Center (DPC) in Tres Cantos (Madrid), the highest recognition awarded by the Uptime Institute for the management and running of these cutting-edge technology complexes. This achievement has been made possible thanks to the implementation of more than 30 energy-saving measures in recent years.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change and Environmental Sciences goes to US scientist Camille Parmesan for her pioneering studies showing that “wild species shift their geographical ranges in response to climate change,” moving toward the poles and higher elevations. This groundbreaking discovery laid “the foundations of climate change ecology,” according to the committee.

Garanti BBVA has launched another highly innovative digital banking solution tailored for its corporate and sole trader customers. Thanks to the new digital service—a first in the industry in terms of scope and variety—corporate and sole trader customers can instantly check their loan agreements, credit limits, risk facilities, bank guarantees, real estate mortgages held as collateral, and valuations or appraisals, along with information on the latest prices and fees.

At a time of transformation and growth in global financial markets, BBVA CIB reaffirms its commitment to becoming the key strategic partner for institutional clients. With a specialized approach and a long-term vision, the bank aims to anticipate industry needs and offer solutions tailored to an ever-evolving environment. In this interview, Juan Blasco, Head of Institutional Business at BBVA CIB, explains how the bank is addressing this challenge.

BBVA's Turkish unit updates the smart assistant on its mobile app, Ugi, using cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence (AI) based on large language models. Ugi now offers the bank’s customers a more natural experience with dynamic, and hyperpersonalized solutions.

The international publication presented two awards to ADA, BBVA’s global data platform, a pioneer in the financial sector, and to a process that applies behavioral economic techniques to telephone debt negotiation using an empathetic approach with the customer. In addition, its AI Factor was once again recognized as one of the best financial innovation laboratories in the world.

BBVA has provided £15m in venture debt to Plum, a British personal finance app. The deal will help Plum expand and scale, and reflects BBVA’s growing commitment to the UK as Europe's leading hub for entrepreneurship and venture capital.

BBVA CIB and the company Basque Hydrogen have signed the first project finance loan on the Iberian Peninsula to finance an electrolytic hydrogen plant to produce synthetic fuels (e-fuels) in the Bilbao port. BBVA made the announcement during the largest European conference on innovation and financing for the energy transition, the Energy Tech Summit, which starts on Wednesday in Bilbao. The event will bring together over 1,500 experts from the cleantech ecosystem.

The BBVA Group paid a record-breaking €8.46 billion in own taxes in 2024 in the countries where it operates, 10 percent more than the previous year, according to the Total Tax Contribution Report. In addition to this figure, BBVA collected €8.98 billion in taxes from third parties for a total of €17.44 billion–the Group’s highest tax contribution thus far. This means that for every €100 of income generated by BBVA in 2024, the bank contributed €49 to public coffers in taxes¹.

¹Ratio between BBVA’s financial contribution to public coffers in 2024 (€17.44 billion) and the bank’s gross margin for the year (€35.48 billion). BBVA’s tax contribution includes both its own taxes (corporate tax, VAT and specific levies on the financial sector, among others), as well as taxes collected by the BBVA Group on behalf of third parties, which are paid as a result of its presence and activity with employees, customers and suppliers in over 25 countries.

Guardrails are mechanisms to guide the responsible development of AI so that it does not become a technological, social, or security threat. Classical and generative AI require different types of guardrails, as the latter’s ability to engage directly with end users has introduced a whole new set of challenges for developers—such as the mass production of fake news or the creation of new methods for perpetrating cybercrime.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Humanities category has gone in this seventeenth edition to the Anglo-American philosopher Philip Kitcher, described by the committee as a “humanistic intellectual” whose trailblazing work addresses a broad spectrum of the core questions of our time.

BBVA is the main sponsor of a new edition of what is the largest European conference on innovation and financing for the energy transition, which will run from April 9 to 10 at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao. This year’s event will notably feature a debate on the key resources needed to achieve a more sustainable energy model.

Murat Kalkan, Head of Digital Banks at BBVA, participated in the 36th edition The European House – Ambrosetti, held in Cernobbio, to discuss the rise of digital banks. During his address, he shared his views on the competition between incumbents and neobanks, and highlighted how BBVA Italy is disrupting the banking industry in the country by combining the best of digital banking with the strengths of traditional institutions. The result: one of the fastest growing banks in Italy with more than 680,000customers and the top-rated bank by customers in the country according to the Bain & Company NPS Benchmark Report, all achieved in just three years.

On Thursday, April 10, BBVA will pay a supplementary dividend of €0.41 per share. Added to the interim dividend paid in October, the total payout for 2024 rises to €0.70 per share, the bank’s highest since 2007. BBVA has also announced a €993 million share buyback.  Through dividends and the buyback, the bank will return a combined €5.03 billion to shareholders this year, half of its 2024 profit.

BBVA and Técnicas Reunidas have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of promoting the development of initiatives and projects linked to the energy transition and the decarbonization of the economy.

BBVA CEO Onur Genç emphasized on Thursday that the transaction with Banco Sabadell is focused on growth, bringing together the strengths of both institutions. “This is about preserving and expanding the excellent work Sabadell has done, and growing together in high-value segments, such as companies,” he explained. At an investor event organized by Bank of America, Genç underscored the attractiveness of the offer for Sabadell shareholders, not only due to the premium offered, but because of the value that will be created through synergies. As a result, they will be able to increase earnings per share compared to the standalone scenario. “BBVA is offering Sabadell shareholders the opportunity to become part of a stronger, more profitable, and more efficient bank,” he said.

For the third year running, BBVA has been busy promoting training in sustainability for 466 of its SME suppliers in 13 countries where it operates, showing an 11 percent improvement on the 2024 figure (418 companies). In total, 593 people will take part in the Sustainable Suppliers Training Program of the UN Global Compact (up 7 percent on the 552 in 2024).

Like every year, global and European regulators have published their annual work plans, in which they describe the lists of initiatives underway in the regulation areas they will prioritize in  2025.

BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) has expanded its pioneering ESG-linked credit risk sharing transaction from €2 billion to €6 billion, further amplifying its commitment to sustainable finance. In addition to long-standing partner PGGM, the upsized transaction also brings in Alecta, the Swedish occupational pension fund, as a second investor. This strategic expansion reflects growing investor appetite for ESG-integrated financial solutions and BBVA’s leadership in structuring innovative SRT transactions.

The EIB Group – made up of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) – has signed a new €93 million synthetic securitisation operation with BBVA for 100% green projects. This investment will allow BBVA to mobilise around €185 million to finance the construction of residential buildings with near-zero emissions by small and medium firms (SMEs) and mid-caps in Spain’s real estate sector.

In a global context marked by uncertainty and economic challenges, BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) has reinforced its commitment to the growth, the sustainable development and the long-term success of its wholesale clients. The institution advocates for a business model rooted in sector specialization—a strategy that enables it to provide tailored solutions and support large companies and institutions in their transition toward a more sustainable future.

BBVA CEO Onur Genç believes that decarbonization requires ‘massive’ capital investments. “Europe needs large banks to finance clean technologies, or ‘cleantech’, on a greater scale,” he said at an event held at the bank’s headquarters in Madrid.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila stated today that “our country is uniquely positioned to play a more relevant role in Europe.” To do so, he believes Spain needs larger banks that are capable of financing the investments needed in areas such as the energy transition, digitization, new technologies, and European autonomy. During his speech at the ‘Wake Up, Spain’ event, Carlos Torres Vila emphasized that growing across all business segments is one of BBVA’s six strategic priorities and will be a key driver of value and growth for the bank over the next five years. “Far from losing anything, Banco Sabadell’s business clients will gain BBVA as their best ally for growth,” he stressed.

The financial institution is developing an internal manual to give visibility to the reality of the people on the autism spectrum in the workplace and society. The goal is to make all professionals at the bank aware of this neurodivergence and promote a working environment that facilitates the integration of this group, makes the most of their strengths and understands the barriers they face.

Speaking in Barcelona on Monday, BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila pointed to the advantages that the potential integration of BBVA and Banco Sabadell would bring to customers, businesses, and society in Catalonia: “We want to double down on our commitment to Catalonia, to grow and contribute to the growth of this region and its business fabric,” he said during the Gran Encuentro Expansión Cataluña. He emphasized that BBVA combines the necessary scale to meet the investment demands of today’s macroeconomic context, while maintaining close ties with customers and strong local roots.

BBVA has adopted a data and AI governance strategy that lets it widen the use of artificial intelligence safely and responsibly.  The bank follows industry best practices and international regulations, keeps an inventory of its AI systems, and monitors them regularly to assess their accuracy, spot errors and ensure they remain current.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences has gone to Avelino Corma, John F. Hartwig and Helmut Schwarz for fundamental advances in the field of catalysis that have made it possible, in the words of the awards committee, to “control and accelerate chemical reactions” and obtain products across multiple industrial processes”, thus “improving efficiency and reducing energy consumption.” Their work has had a profound impact on sectors such as pharmaceuticals, energy and food.