Recently appointed Global Head of Open Innovation, Ainhoa Campo Nieto is responsible for leading BBVA’s strategy to engage and collaborate with the external fintech ecosystem.
An employee at BBVA for over nine years, since taking on the new role, Ainhoa has developed and implemented a new strategy for Open Innovation. It is designed to help the bank evolve from connection-building to identifying collaboration opportunities that can directly impact BBVA’s core business. You can read more about Open Innovation’s strategy for 2019 here.
What is your vision for Open Innovation for 2019 and beyond?
“Open innovation” is defined differently by different people, and is constantly evolving. Twelve years ago, for example, when the ecosystem was in its infancy, we were focused on launching competitions and incubators. In the past few years, we have been evolving our vision, focusing on converting these connections into projects that will have a real impact for the bank and its customers. At the moment, business units within BBVA have direct relationships with the startups that best fit their needs. What we would like to do in the future is to develop a platform that any player in the ecosystem (fintech and non-fintech startups, other financial institutions and service providers) can access to our Open Banking.
What does a typical day look like for you?
That’s a good question but it is hard to answer. What I love about my work is that no day is ever the same. It also really depends on the type of projects we’re working on in any given year. At the beginning of the year, we’re often more focused on strategic planning and identifying what the global requirements of the bank are from a digital perspective. Throughout the year, we could be planning for the next Open Summit, reviewing applicants to the Open Talent competition, or scouting for the best companies at the Connection Festival. Finally, at the end of the year, we will review and iterate the strategy for the year ahead.
What do you think sets BBVA apart from other global banks?
BBVA began its transformation process more than 20 years. Its vision was to put innovation and technology at the heart of the bank and ultimately to provide customers with the best products on the market. At this time, no other banks had a fintech engagement strategy. Fast-forward to today, and there’s no global bank that doesn’t have a strategy to enable collaboration with fintechs. Being the first to Implement this vision has set BBVA apart from its competitors, and means we’re always one step ahead.
Its vision and business model ensures that BBVA is always creating value for its customers. In Spain, Mexico, Turkey, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay, BBVA is the most highly recommended retail bank by customers.
What do you anticipate will be your biggest opportunities in your new role as Global Head of Open Innovation?
We have recently developed a new strategy for Open Innovation, focused on impacting into the core – this means evolving from connection-building to collaborating with fintechs that can have a real impact for the bank and our customers. The outputs of this strategy are already being realised – 29 pilots were rolled out in 2018, and 11 have since been scaled. This means that the initial pilots evolve into a tangible product for BBVA customers. Being scaled means go to production and become a real product. Today, different business units across the bank are proactively searching the fintech ecosystem and there is now a clear path and process to enable startups to work with BBVA through the Open Marketplace platform, and events and initiatives such as the Connection Festival and Fast Track.
What’s most challenging about your role?
Innovation is a continuous challenge, and requires constant upkeep! There is no doubt that innovation is key to remaining competitive in the market. We can’t afford to be inward-looking, and must always stay abreast of the latest trends and development in the market.
For us in the Open Innovation team, our strategy has to be flexible enough to accommodate the rapid pace at which technologies are advancing. This means we are often operating in a state of uncertainty which not everyone is prepared for.
What are your ambitions for the year ahead?
We have put in place an ambitious strategy for Open Innovation this year to ensure all our engagement with the external ecosystem feeds through to the bank. To do this, we are focusing on working with the best startups and progressing commercial agreements with those that can help us develop new and exciting products for our customers. I want to ensure that Open Innovation is aligned with the wider strategy and roadmap of the bank as well as inspiring us all to realise the vision of becoming the digital bank of the 21st century.
