Spanish bank BBVA is introducing a new type of corporate loan that sees its interest rate decline as the borrower makes progress towards "digital maturity".
As firms across industries face up to the digital revolution, BBVA is looking to give them an added incentive with its new D-Loan.
The price of the loan is linked not only to the borrower's credit profile but also its digital maturity, which is determined after analysis from a consulting firm. Borrowers and lenders agree on digital score targets throughout the life of the financing and if these are met, the loan pricing is reduced.
Singapore-based food and agri-business outfit Olam International is the first to sign up for a D-Loan, a $350 million revolving credit facility involving BBVA and six other banks.
Boston Consulting Group is carrying out the digital analysis, which will be revised each year, taking into account things such as the priority given to digitisation within the company, different initiatives and roadmaps implemented, digital marketing models, and how innovation is fostered.
Ricardo Laiseca, head, global finance, BBVA, says: "We believe that companies that undertake a digital transformation will be the winners in their sector in the long term; digitisation translates into greater competitiveness and profitability, which will allow these companies to be ahead of the competition."