BBVA's business in Mexico celebrates 90 years with more than 25 million customers

MADRID, 15 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

BBVA's business in Mexico, formerly known as Banco de Comercio and later as Bancomer, celebrates this Saturday 90 years since its foundation in Mexico City, with more than 25 million customers and being one of the group's main markets.

The story goes back to October 15, 1932, when the engineer Salvador Ugarte Vizcaíno founded the Banco de Comercio together with a group of 28 employees and young entrepreneurs, according to the bank.

The initial capital of the bank was 500,000 Mexican pesos, with which the entity was able to begin operations and open its offices at 46 Venustiano Carranza Street. The growth of the entity was developed through a model of Affiliated Banks, where the Bank of Commerce maintained a shareholding and technical direction, plus the collaboration of local businessmen.

Four years later, in 1936, the bank occupied the building located at 42 Venustiano Carranza Street. In 1941, two metropolitan branches were opened, in La Merced and Morelos, which allowed customers to have access to services in any of the branches.

The fifties were the golden period for economic growth in Mexico, which represented strong opportunities for the banking entity in terms of exports, business dynamism and urbanization.

Only in 1950, 28 metropolitan branches were opened and the system of affiliated banks had expanded with 99 branches in different cities of the Republic. This led to a growth in employees, reaching 5,150 in 1954.

In 1953, an international and foreign relations department was opened to handle international payments and transfers related to exports and imports. Representations were also inaugurated in Madrid and New York.

In 1956, an important step towards a more global strategy was taken by unifying the affiliated banks under the same name: Sistema de Bancos de Comercio. In this way, clients, investors (foreign and Mexican) and authorities perceived it as a single bank with a national presence. A second step was the opening of a group of non-banking subsidiaries: financial, mortgage, insurance and real estate. These new subsidiaries were called Bancomer.

Already in November 1977 the 34 banks of the Banco de Comercio System, the Financiera Bancomer and Hipotecaria Bancomer merged and thus Bancomer, S.A. was born. Multiple Banking Institution.

The nineties arrived with winds of change and restructuring for Bancomer. Also with new interests in Mexico from foreign banks, such as BBV (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya), who acquired Mercantil Probursa.

In 1996, BBV bought Banca de Oriente and Banca Cremi; With these acquisitions, plus Mercantil Probursa, the new group accentuated its expansion strategy and was established as BBV Probursa. Meanwhile, in 1990, during the reprivatization of the Mexican banking system, a group of shareholders from Monterrey acquired Bancomer, beginning a profound reconstruction of its financial and credit culture.

In 1999, BBV merged with Argentaria and thus formed BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) and a year later, in 2000, BBVA acquired Bancomer's business.

BBVA's Aztec business currently has a portfolio of more than 25 million customers, which means 31% more than in 2019 and in all segments of people (patrimonial and private, commercial, express, as well as beneficiaries of social programs). Regarding the business sector, it has 778,000 clients ranging from micro-businesses to global companies, with a growth of 28% compared to 2019.

During the last National Meeting of BBVA Regional Directors in June, the bank's president, Carlos Torres Vila, highlighted the strategic role and great attraction of Mexico for the group, a market in which the entity expects to invest 620 million euros this year.

"We are convinced that Mexico is a great country with enormous potential and the capacity to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the new world order and growing regionalization, leveraging key trends such as innovation and sustainability," the BBVA chairman stressed.