BBVA Teams With Google Pay To Offer Digital Bank Accounts

BBVA USA is collaborating with Google to offer consumers a digital bank account through Google Pay.

The Alabama-based bank holding company said the partnership is key to its strategy​ of growing the bank throughout the U.S. as it deepens its transformation and capitalizes on the innovations that have changed the way it does business.

“When we launched our new five-year strategic plan in January, we said that two key pillars were to ​reach more customers​ with our digital offerings and use our expertise in finance, digital and innovation to help them improve their ​financial health​,” said Javier Rodríguez Soler, BBVA president and CEO, in a statement. “This collaboration with Google is fully aligned with this effort, even more so in today’s world, where the ability to conduct your financial life in a digital manner, from account opening to transacting to understanding financial health, is imperative.”

Slated to launch next year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured digital account will be built on BBVA’s infrastructure and powered by Google Pay. Users will have access to front-end experiences and financial insights provided by Google.

“Google is excited to work with BBVA USA in enabling a digital experience that is equitable for all and meets the evolving needs of a new generation of customers,” said Felix Lin, vice president of payments ecosystems at Google. “We believe that we can use our technology expertise to benefit users, banks and the entire financial ecosystem.”

BBVA is one of six U.S. banks and credit unions that have signed on to offer checking and savings accounts through Google Pay. BankMobile, BMO Harris, The Coastal Community Bank, First Independence Bank, a federally designated minority depository institution and SEFCU will join Citi and Stanford Federal Credit Union in the offering.

Google’s banking services strategy is an effort to reinvent the banking experience for consumers by enabling them to connect commerce to their customers’ underlying bank accounts via Google Pay.

While a majority of consumers say they are satisfied with their banks, nearly 40 percent of them would be “extremely” or “very” likely to explore a primary banking services relationship with a Big Tech or FinTech, according to PYMNTS research.