FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Corporate Responsibility Report 2008
30
no experience of banking usage and preferred to
work through remittance agencies. At the time,
the Dinero Express network was intended to be
a gateway and alternative to traditional
banking, which often acts as a barrier to
banking usage for this collective. However, the
migrant sector now feels comfortable doing
business with traditional banks as it has become
familiar with banking usage. This means that a
suitable service can be provided through the
normal branch network and with the support
of all the new channels (internet, ATMs...).
Nevertheless, the approach taken by the BBVA
network continues to be a differential one, with
a specialised value offer. Furthermore, the
greater capillarity of our commercial banking
network in Spain (3,220 branches) enables us
to extend that offer to a larger collective.
• In addition to this, the BBVA Group has made
a major effort in technology so that the sending
of remittances and other transactions can be
effected through remote channels (telephone
and internet) or through ATMs, thereby
considerably reducing the need for physical
branches for transactions of this nature. BBVA
has arranged for its customers to make cash
remittances through channels other than
branch offices (70% via ATMs and 5% over
the internet), which is considerably more
convenient and economical for them.
• Finally, it should be stressed that the economic
environment has changed in recent months and
so, therefore, have the needs of migrants. There
has been a general downturn in the financial
activity of this collective in 2008. The borrowing
and financial capacity of migrants has been
weakened by the recession and the volume and
number of remittances sent to their countries of
origin has fallen, although Dinero Express has
been one of the few institutions in the sector that
has still managed to record growth in its activity.
Moreover, as an example of BBVA’s
commitment to this collective, in 2008 Dinero
Express has expanded its financial offer by
launching several new products to meet the needs
of this collective:
• Pack 0€ - a financial product that does away
with administrative charges and allows for the
withdrawal of cash from ATMs free of charge
simply by ordering the direct debit of two
household bills from a Dinero Express account.
• In September, the institution also began to
market the sending of remittances at zero cost
without the need to have one’s payslip paid
directly into the account, simply by agreeing to
a set of requirements involving current account
movements.
In terms of market share in Spain, in 2008 BBVA
cornered 22.5% of the market for the migrant
sector and 25% of cash remittances, considering
solely financial institutions. If the entire market is
considered (financial institutions and others), the
market share for remittances was 7.6 % in 2008.
Finally, it should be noted that the charges
collected by Dinero Express for remittances are
amongst the most competitive on the market,
according to a survey published by the World Bank.
For a comparison click on
http://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/Default.aspx
BTS. BBVA’s commitment to services suited to the
needs of the migrant community is supplemented
by those related to remittances through Bancomer
Transfer Service (BTS) in Mexico. The BTS mission
is to provide a top quality service for sending
family remittances. To do so, it uses an electronic
platform for the transfer of funds with a regulatory
compliance program and the most sophisticated
hi-tech system against money laundering.
The BTS strategy is based on 3 pillars:
1) Strengthening the corridor to Mexico and Latin
America.
2) Extending the Origination Network in the US.
3) Global expansion to corridors in Europe, Asia
and Africa.
Regarding figures, in 2007 Bancomer had
38.3% of the market share in electronic transfers
paid in Mexico, and by November 2008 it had
42.01%.
For Mexico alone, BTS processed 22,532,091
transactions amounting to $9,301m, recording a
5.4% growth in transfers and 6.9% in funds on
a like-for-like basis with 2007.
In 2007, the worldwide market in remittances
amounted to almost $240 billion. BTS won a share
of 4.35%.
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