BBVA's NBA Account Nets 10k Customers in First Two Months

Roughly two months after BBVA Compass launched its branchless bank account for basketball fans, the bank has about 10,000 NBA Banking customers, says BBVA's chief marketing officer John Wessman.

The division of Spanish banking company Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria launched the accounts, which are paired with a mobile app, in conjunction with the NBA during the league's All-Star Weekend in Houston in February.

The Birmingham, Ala. bank has partnered with the basketball league for the past three years.

The vast majority of those new customers are coming into BBVA branches to open the accounts, he says. That means most of NBA Banking's customers are relegated to the bank's current footprint in the Sunbelt states.

However, Wessman says, he's sure that will change once spokesman Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and James Harden of the Houston Rockets appear in a national TV spot.

The accounts certainly have the potential to net customers, nationwide.

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