Indeed, BBVA has gone to great lengths to support new technologies. Just last month, the company said it would invest $100 million through its newly created BBVA Ventures initiative.
Already BBVA has put money into SaveUp, a startup that plans to gamify aspects of financial services, and Ribbit Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm led by Meyer Malka, the founder and former chief executive of the now-defunct Bling Nation.
However, with its new bank account, BBVA still has to be careful to make sure to engage its customers correctly. That goes beyond providing an iPhone app that mixes sports content with financial information, says Jim Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy and Research.
"To tap into key emerging customer profitability growth segments like the increasingly affluent Gen Y.2, ages 25-34, more is required," he says in an email. "The banking must be both complete for each new channel -- that means, for example, that you must be able to not just use mobile banking but enroll as a new bank customer via mobile as well."
That means providing real-time access to accounts, he says, making sure that when someone makes a deposit on their mobile phone they'll be able to see it on an ATM.
You know, the stuff millennials expect.
"There was even BancBowie, the online bank for David Bowie fans. By and large, these sites never made it to their golden years."
--Daniel Wolfe, Editor in Chief, PaymentsSource