BBVA - Press Room

• Pilgrims using smart phones will have access to the “BBVA en el camino” (BBVA on the pilgrimage) application, an innovative range of value-added services combining real and virtual information (augmented reality).

As part of its ‘BBVA con el Camino de Santiago” (BBVA and the Santiago pilgrimage) program, the Spain and Portugal business unit is offering tourists and pilgrims an innovative geo-positioning application that is flexible, practical and enormously useful as it provides travellers with access to all the information necessary to complete their journey. This new service offers pilgrims maps and information on hostels, points of interest, Xacobeo 2010 events, BBVA offices and ATMs and recommended retail establishments. The “BBVA con el Camino” program will strengthen the Group's positioning and identity at the Xacobeo 2010 and in Galicia.

The application can be downloaded free of charge from the usual smartphone mobile platforms': 'iTunes/Appstore' for iPhone and 'Android Market' for phones using the Google operating system.

Once the application has been downloaded and the device knows the user's physical position, the pilgrim will receive on his screen all contextual information (hostels, points of interest, recommended retail establishments, events, etc), with an indication of the distance and how to get there.

 Furthermore, by activating the augmented reality function and pointing the handset in the right direction, more information may be obtained using the internal compass. The application has three visualization modes: list, map and augmented reality.

Augmented reality is one of the most rapidly developing innovative technologies. It encompasses applications that are useful in several areas such as leisure, design, culture, education and training.  The technology provides a view of a real physical environment (a building, landscape, a street) combined with virtual factors (data, information) to create a mixed reality. The virtual information is superimposed on the existing physical reality. BBVA is working on the design of a physical/virtual distribution model that makes it easier for clients to interact with the bank at the best time and using the best space and channel for each occasion, at the vanguard for this type of application.

Xacobeo 2010 sponsorship

In March BBVA signed a collaboration agreement with the Galician regional government (Xunta de Galicia) making the bank one of the sponsors of the Xacobeo 2010. This sponsorship, which is strategic for the Bank, as it is based on values and will have a major impact on local society, will further reinforce BBVA’s commitment to Galicia and the men and women of Galicia.

Under the slogan ‘BBVA con el Camino de Santiago’, the Bank will roll out over the course of the year a host of initiatives, including innovative accident insurance for all pilgrims embarking on the pilgrimage to Santiago, financing agreements for local Galician corporations and a program for retailers in the region that provides significant financial advantages. In addition, the BBVA Group will bring its full force to bear on promoting Xacobeo 2010 worldwide.

Sponsorship of the Xacobeo 2010 falls under the umbrella of BBVA’s corporate citizenship policy, one of the defining and guiding features of which is that a global company must commit to promoting the development of the societies where it operates.