The Diplomat
BBVA’s business in Mexico, formerly known as Banco de Comercio and later as Bancomer, celebrated its 90th anniversary yesterday in Mexico City, with more than 25 million customers and one of the group’s main markets, reports Europa Press.
The history dates back to 15 October 1932, when engineer Salvador Ugarte Vizcaíno founded Banco de Comercio together with a group of 28 employees and young entrepreneurs, according to the bank.
The bank’s initial capital was 500,000 Mexican pesos, with which the entity was able to start 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 Banco de Comercio maintained a shareholding and technical management, 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, allowing customers to access services at either branch.
The 1950s were the golden period for Mexico’s economic growth, which represented strong opportunities for the bank in terms of exports, business dynamism and urbanisation.
In 1950 alone, 28 metropolitan branches were opened and the system of affiliated banks had expanded to 99 branches in different cities of the Republic. This led to an increase in the number of 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 opened in Madrid and New York.
In 1956, an important step was taken towards a more global strategy by unifying the affiliated banks under the same name: Sistema de Bancos de Comercio. In this way, customers, 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-bank subsidiaries: financial, mortgage, insurance and real estate. These new subsidiaries were called Bancomer.
In November 1977, the 34 banks of the Sistema Banco de Comercio, Financiera Bancomer and Hipotecaria Bancomer merged and Bancomer, S.A. Institución de Banca Múltiple was born.
The nineties came with an air of change and restructuring for Bancomer. There was also new interest in Mexico from foreign banks, such as BBV (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya), which acquired Mercantil Probursa.
In 1996, BBV bought Banca de Oriente and Banca Cremi; with these acquisitions, plus Mercantil Probursa, the new group accentuated its expansionary strategy and became BBV Probursa. Meanwhile, in 1990, during the re-privatisation of Mexican banking, a group of shareholders from Monterrey acquired Bancomer, initiating a profound reconstruction of its financial and credit culture.
In 1999, BBV merged with Argentaria to form BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) and a year later, in 2000, BBVA took over Bancomer’s business.
More than 25 million customers
BBVA’s Aztec business currently has a portfolio of more than 25 million customers, which is 31% more than in 2019 and in all segments of individuals (private and private wealth, commercial, express, as well as beneficiaries of social programmes). As for the business sector, it has 778,000 customers 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 chairman, Carlos Torres Vila, highlighted the strategic role and the great attraction of Mexico for the group, a market in which the bank plans to invest 620 million euros this year.
“We are convinced that Mexico is a great country with enormous potential and capacity to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the new world order and growing regionalisation, leveraging on key trends such as innovation and sustainability,” said the BBVA Chairman and CEO.
