Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria : “Artificial Intelligence, big data and cloud computing will boost financial inclusion”

Álvaro Martín took part this Wednesday in a panel on 'Data-Driven Finance and AI', moderated by Martin Arnold, Banking Editor, Financial Times, which also consisted of Ronit Ghose, global sector head for banks research. Citi Research; and Michael Natusch, Global Head of AI, Group Digital Team, Prudential Plc. BBVA's Group Executive Chairman, Francisco González, and Executive Member of the Board José Manuel González-Páramo, also participated in other panels held during this first day of the event.

During the debate, Álvaro Martín also made reference to the access of tech giants and new fintech startups to financial data through aggregators and APIs, a novelty that has increased the need for banks to quickly adopt artificial intelligence, he warned. BBVA Research's head economist considers that the access to data by companies that handle data massively should be symmetrical, to ensure a level-playing field. 'If you think about how regulators approach data, for example, there is a regulation for the financial sector and another one for the remaining sectors,' he explained. 'There's an asymmetry.' This, in his opinion, detracts from the financial industry's overall competitiveness. 'It is much easier for the GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) to access banking data than the other way around.'

If you think about how regulators approach data, for example, there is a regulation for the financial sector and another one for the remaining sectors

Regarding the main hurdles facing banks when adopting innovative technologies, Álvaro Martín focused on three: Knowledge gaps among employees regarding these technologies; legacy processes and data architecture, which require new governance models to squeeze out the value from the available datasets; and regulatory and competitive pressure.