BBVA announced on Thursday it has teamed up with Telefónica to develop a consumer loan business, Movistar Money, in Columbia. The duo noted that Movistar Money will sell loans to more than 19 million Telefónica clients located in the country.
“The new company will benefit from both partners’ experience and assets in the Colombian market and will harness BBVA’s extensive knowledge of the financial business and Telefónica’s technological sales power. The agreement also foresees the development of digital sales channels and operations to help local clients get to know the new loan products.”
BBVA further explained that Movistar Money will have a management team in the country to coordinate the sales and financial policies and technology with both partners of the joint venture. While sharing more details about the collaboration, Fabio Bruggioni, Director de Global Consumer of Telefónica, stated:
“This agreement and the launch of Movistar Money services in Colombia is in line with Telefónica’s strategy to diversify its business and foster innovation in the digital world, enriching the portfolio of products offered to the company’s customer base.”
Jordi García Bosch, Head of New Businesses and Strategy in Clients Solutions at BBVA, further revealed:
“BBVA aims to offer the best financial products and services to Colombian clients, with a unique proposal in Colombia that is the fruit of BBVA’s leadership in digital banking. This agreement represents a boost to our strategy to continue growing and reaching new customers through agreements with leading players in their sectors, like Telefónica.”
BBVA added that it and Telefónica conducted a commercial pilot for six months in Colombia, which confirmed the potential for this type of loans in the local market, among a base of over 300,000 Movistar Colombia customers.