BBVA Adds 'Instant' Rewards to Bolster U.S. Mobile Pay Expansion

A few months after introducing its mobile wallet in the U.S., BBVA is attempting to lure adoption through 'instant' cash-back credit card rewards for qualified transactions at checkout.

The rewards feature sends users cash reward balance notifications when they use their BBVA Compass credit cards. They can opt to redeem cash rewards by responding to the alerts.

Rewards and loyalty programs are seen as a major way to lure consumers to mobile payments, where consumer adoption thus far has been slow. BBVA framed the option to redeem perks on the spot at checkout as an opportunity to offset the price of their purchases.

"Imagine buying a new TV and finding out, via an alert, that you can offset the amount of the purchase using your cash rewards before you even leave the store," Jeff Dennes, BBVA Compass chief digital banking officer, said in a Nov. 16 news release.

Customers can redeem as little as $1 or the full amount of the purchase if their rewards balances are sufficient to cover the total. Rewards are applied as account credits.

BBVA has been at the forefront of payments technology, and has outlined plans to define itself as a software company in the coming years. BBVA first launched the mobile wallet app for iPhones and Android devices in Spain in 2013 and says it has built a following of more than 570,000 users. In mid-2014, BBVA was considered the first global banking group to commercially launch a mobile payment system through smartphones using Near Field Communication.