BBVA - Press Room

• BBVA Chairman Francisco González announced a new phase in the bank's efforts to offer financial education in Mexico through the use of new educational initiatives, entailing both on-site courses and distance learning
• BBVA Bancomer will offer Personal Finance workshops as part of its Financial Education Program in classrooms located at some of its bank branches in Mexico's 14 biggest cities, as well as in mobile classrooms and via mobile equipment
• The workshops will also be accessible to the general public via the Internet, thanks to a high-tech distance learning platform
• According to BBVA Bancomer Chairman Ignacio Deschamps González, the bank views financial education as a part of its corporate social responsibility efforts. He emphasized that the group’s Personal Finance workshops are offered free of charge to the general public. Students do not have to be BBVA Bancomer customers to enrol.

With an investment of over .2 million, BBVA Bancomer has stepped up its Financial Education Program ‘Adelante con tu Future’ (Get Going on Your Future) and pledged to continue spending a similar amount in the years ahead to spread personal finance knowledge to the general public using the most innovative educational methods on the market.

Mexico’s leading financial institution will provide financial education to more than 200,000 people in 2009 through on-line courses and classes in bank branches and mobile classrooms, teaching households how to make better use of financial instruments.

This strategic support will allow the bank to reach a large number of the targets set out in conjunction with the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (in Spanish: Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, ITESM), through the use of its distance learning platform, the most highly developed in all of Latin America.

During a ceremony to mark the expansion of the Financial Education Program “Adelante con tu Futuro,” BBVA Chairman Francisco González noted that in response to a proposal raised by Mexican President Felipe Calderón at the 2008 Banking Convention, a number of efforts were launched that are now bearing fruit.

He explained that BBVA Bancomer is the leader in efforts to expand banking penetration in Mexico, welcoming more than 7 million newcomers to the financial system in Mexico in the past five years. “We operate from a firm conviction that at our bank we are determined to work hard so that every one of our customers and as much of the general population -who have only recently begun to access financial services- as possible have the ability to understand and make sound decisions about the best alternatives for saving and lending,” said González.

“At BBVA Bancomer we want to nurture consistent savers and responsible borrowers," stressed the BBVA Chairman, adding that “This is why I am pleased to take part in this ceremony, in which we are sharing with the community the great efforts the BBVA Group in general, and BBVA Bancomer in particular, are making to help strengthen financial culture among the people of Mexico. These efforts are unique in their focus, and reflect what we believe to be the real need: 'empowering people,’ with the skills required to use financial services to their advantage.”

Mexico’s Secretary of Public Education, Alonso Lujambio, congratulated BBVA Bancomer for its initiative to bolster financial education in Mexico, which includes workshops in branch meeting rooms and in mobile classrooms designed by its specialists to help Mexicans learn how to use financial services.

Mr. Lujambio underlined the urgent need to prepare coming generations of Mexicans to develop savings habits and an understanding of the benefits of saving and investment in a more comprehensive manner and at an earlier age, so that they can build a better future.

A number of initiatives to foster financial education through Personal Finance workshops have been carried out since March 2008, in conjunction with the Interactive Economy Museum (in Spanish: Museo Interactivo de Economía, MIDE), said BBVA Bancomer Chairman Ignacio Deschamps González. As a result of these efforts, more than 60,000 people have watched videos, played interactive games and practiced with the program's calculators.

This is an ongoing effort by the bank, because “the reality is that better-informed customers with sufficient know-how to manage their financial resources will help the bank to make inroads toward increasing banking penetration” said Deschamps.

The “Adelante con tu Futuro" financial education program, created by BBVA Bancomer, is part of a global initiative by the BBVA Group to foster financial education. This year and next, the program’s content will become operational on the distance learning platform, making it available in Latin American countries in which BBVA does business and which have similar needs to Mexico’s.

“We are so convinced of the importance of these efforts that this year alone we have set aside .2 million to set up this infrastructure, which we are already using, and to extend the Personal Finance workshops to as many Mexicans as possible," said BBVA Bancomer Director of Financial Education Uriel Galicia Negrete.

Galicia emphasized that what sets the BBVA Bancomer program apart is its focus on developing basic financial skills to allow consumers to use financial services to their advantage. These skills are taught free of charge at hour-long Personal Finance workshops.