Western Europe’s SMEs are advancing productivity and sustainability through innovation, strategic partnerships, and smart financing.
Regional Winner | BBVA
Headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, and with branches in more than 25 countries around the world and throughout Europe, BBVA is this year’s winner for Best SME Bank in Western Europe. The BBVA Group has focused on its SME business, as evidenced by 40% higher revenues in 2024 compared to 2023, or €3 billion (about $3.5 billion) in gross income, from this key segment. BBVA offers its customers competitive advantages through its expertise in sustainability and through its global footprint, which enables businesses to scale across borders. The bank has provided training in sustainability for its SME suppliers in 13 countries.
Its SME specialists help businesses anticipate a variety of needs, from franchising to trade finance. The bank has also digitalized services to enable more online operations while actively managing associated risks. The results are triple the previous year’s number of preapproved credits, representing 50% of loan originations for the year; and 3.5 times more new credit originated through digital channels.
The bank introduced a fully digital solution for its clients, linking the transaction processing of the point-of-sale (PoS) terminal. In Spain, about 40% of BBVA’s business customers now use the Android PoS terminal, a device resembling a mobile phone, which helps merchants manage their businesses, easily process returns, and view their transaction history. Also, merchants can install apps to help them manage their businesses more effectively.
