“People are at the center of the business model precisely because of ethics. This means that self-regulation goes far beyond legal requirements,” said the Global Director of Institutional Relations at BBVA during a lecture organized by the Institute for Business and Humanism and held on the University of Navarra campus.

Piera took part as a speaker during the institution’s Refresher Week, which was held on May 2-6, 2016, under the general theme Business and Public Property.

The director described BBVA’s “principled profitability” model, which is guided by “integrity, transparency and prudence” and based on “transparent, clear and responsible” communication. The goal is, of course, to provide clients and society as a whole with a better service, but also, as Piera explained, “to restore the trust and credibility lost in the banking sector in recent times.”

The impact of the previous crisis on the banking sector was not just economic. She went on to say, “There will always be crises, but we need to be prepared for them. In the past, families have made bad financial decisions that have caused a great deal of suffering. Entering a crisis heavily in debt is not the same as being prepared and knowing that jobs are not for life. We can’t avoid crises, but we can avoid some of the most serious consequences.”

That’s why BBVA has deployed a whole range of communication tools aimed at improving financial education. “It’s an issue at the forefront of international public organizations,” she stressed.

This need to be prepared has given rise to initiatives such as Financial Education Day in Spain, which highlights the importance of planning, saving and information in the economic management of a family unit. Another example is the My Retirement plan, which has simulated over 2.4 million retirements since 2013. “The goal is not to sell pensions; it is a responsible banking model. It makes informed decisions, and then the client signs a contract with the entity of his or her choice,” she said.

Products with a high social impact

In addition to financial education, which is also aimed at SMEs and businesses, in which “a bad financial decision can affect the viability of a business project,” BBVA works with “products with a high social impact.” These focus on special needs groups, socially responsible investment and financial inclusion, especially in Latin America. “The idea is to ensure that the opportunities offered by this new age are available for everyone. Universal access to an account and financial products. The objective isn’t to sell them anything, but to help them manage their risks more efficiently: where to save, alternatives to cash payment, access to credit and insurance, and a regulated system that provides protection,” explained Piera.

Of course, BBVA relies on the potential of new technologies to reach those audiences: “They make it much easier to meet people’s needs by making us more efficient. They increase the scalability of costs and allow us to offer services that are tailored to each case.”

This has led to phenomena such as microfinance: “We provide micro-entrepreneurs at the bottom of the ladder with access to credit. A total of 6.59 billion euros borrowed and over 1.7 million entrepreneurs assisted in 2015, 83% of them in vulnerable situations: now that’s social impact,” she said.