BBVA presents “BBVA Bconomy,” a new functionality in the app and web of BBVA that allows each customer to know his/her financial health and provides made-to-measure plans for improving it.
The tool measures the performance of income and expenditure, the level of savings, spending on housing, and level of indebtedness. It also grades, with an average score, the financial health of the customer. A score of above 50% indicates adequate financial health, although the customer may need to take measures in savings, in order to improve the grade. Apart from the diagnosis of financial health, “BBVA Bconomy” helps the customer with personalized recommendations and tools, as a function of their situation. BBVA is the first bank in Spain to offer this financial analysis to its customers.
BBVA’s goal is to place at the disposal of the customer all the necessary information about his/her economy, so that they can make informed decisions. With “BBVA Bconomy,” customers can know how they are managing their finances and how to improve on different aspects of it, in order to face their particular stage of life with a greater peace of mind.
To achieve good financial health, it´s advisable to dedicate a maximum of 50% of one’s income to fixed costs, 30% to variable costs and 20% to savings. It´s also recommended to have at least six months of economic freedom, that is ,to have sufficient savings to maintain the same lifestyle for six months, in the event of any unforeseen circumstances.
X-Ray of financial health
The scoring of “BBVA Bconomy” ranges between 0 and 100 points and contains four variables: the monthly savings of each customer; his/her economic freedom; expenditure on housing and on loans for delayed card payments. The customer´s score in each of these variables is obtained by analyzing his/her monthly income, monthly expenses, expenditure on housing, and debt.
Each category accounts for 25% of the scoring. The client can have a worse performance in one or two of the categories and an excellent behavior in others, all of which are balanced out in the final result. The resulting score is an average of the four categories. A score of below 50% shows inadequate financial health, as the customer is spending more than he/she is earning.
BBVA provides an action plan with personalized measures that can help the customer to improve in each one of these categories and optimize his/her savings. For example, if a customer is below 20% of the recommended level of monthly savings, he/she has the possibility of starting budgets to control expenditures.
The Director of Digital Transformation at BBVA Spain, Gonzalo Rodriguez, explains that BBVA Bconomy “is aligned with BBVA’s goal of creating new opportunities for our customers, since it helps them maintain a better control of their financial situation, by aiding them to save more easily, or to have a cushion for unforeseen events. Money is the principal reason for stress in people and with BBVA Bconomy, we want to help to reduce it.”
According to Elena Alfaro, Director of Data & Analytics and Open Innovation at BBVA, “the intelligent use of data provides personalization, relevance and improved decision-making. We want customers to understand and control their finances, so that they are more relaxed as they meet their objectives.”
