BBVA Reports Record-Breaking Digital Customer Acquisition
In 2020, the European bank attracted 7.3 million new customers worldwide, with 67% using digital channels first.
Need to Know
- European bank BBVA has reported a record-breaking leap in customer acquisition, adding 7.3 million new customers in 2020.
- Like many banks and businesses, the pandemic has driven customers to seek out digital-first solutions.
- Two-thirds (67%) of BBVA’s customers are digital, up from 58% in 2019.
Analysis
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the lives of those around the world, Spain-based financial services company BBVA has reported a record-breaking jump in new customers in 2020. Of the 7.3 million new customers reported, 2.3 million joined through the BBVA app or website.
The record customer acquisition represents a 56% increase from the year prior.
As many other financial institutions have experienced in the past year, the pandemic has driven customers to seek out digital-first options for their banking services. Now 67% of BBVA’s customers are digital, with 61% using the mobile app for financial transactions. This time last year, 58.1% of BBVA customers used digital services.
According to a blog post on the BBVA website, “currently, the bank attracts more digital customers in a single day than it did in a full quarter in 2015.”
The increase in digital acquisition reflects BBVA’s efforts to improve the banks’ digital services.
“Customer growth is one of BBVA’s strategic priorities and these figures validate the group’s efforts to create global programs to develop new digital functionalities aimed at contracting financial products and services,” says David Puente, BBVA’s global head of Client Solutions.
The bank has also worked to engage all departments within the company to convert users into customers in the “simplest and most frictionless way,” including reusing software and sharing lessons from country to country.
The bank has also attracted new users through its integration of third-party platforms. Last summer, BBVA USA joined five other banks in partnering with Google to roll out checking and savings accounts for its customers that use Google Pay.
In 2019, BBVA brought in EUR 24.5 billion in revenue. The bank serves over 56 million customers in Europe, Asia, and the US.
