The platform developed by BBVA connects to Visa and Mastercard directly from each country’s application and provides the data required to process digital transactions from a smartphone.

BBVA has used token technology to develop a global platform that integrates the activation of mobile payments in its banking apps in any of the countries within its operating footprint. The platform will also offer customers new payment experiences, thanks to tokenization. This approach consists of replacing real payment card numbers with a unique identification code called a “token,” which is generated by Token Service Providers (TSPs) like Visa and Mastercard, and they allow transactions to be performed without exposing the customer’s real data.

This new payment method replaces sensitive debit or credit card data with a unique identification code called a ‘token,’ which is used during a digital transaction. Online transactions are therefore more secure because the customer’s actual card data no longer needs to be provided. BBVA has already committed to helping its customers adopt this new payment approach.

The platform BBVA developed connects to Visa and Mastercard directly from each country’s application and provides the data required to process digital transactions from a smartphone. The platform includes a module that integrates with the banking app and is dedicated to securely storing the data in the device and communicating with the contactless sale terminal in order to process the payment using the mobile devices’ near-field communication (NFC) technology.

Customers in Peru can already use the mobile payment technology thanks to the platform, which will be rolled-out to BBVA’s other markets in the coming months. The platform was developed as an agile, global initiative, in order to ensure that its functionality could be quickly adapted to the distinct customer requirements in each of the respective local markets. “We want to be the first ones to provide new digital payment features to the customers in our markets, and this is only possible with the designs developed using this platform. A global approach to creating and developing products has become an integral part of our work philosophy at BBVA,” explains Alfredo Sanz, BBVA’s Product Owner for Payment Solutions.

Instead of relying on local platforms to deliver this functionality to each market, BBVA delivered a single development that provides these services directly across its entire footprint, thus saving time and resources and dramatically improving time to market for all customers.

Tokenization is already in use in mobile payment platforms like Apple Pay and Google Play, as well as in the BBVA mobile payment platform. Large digital companies like Netflix and Amazon are gradually adopting tokenization in order to securely store their customers’ credentials.

Customers in Peru can already use the mobile payment technology thanks to the platform, which will be rolled-out to BBVA's other markets in the coming months.
Tokenization and new payment experiences

This platform is a key piece of BBVA’s future payment strategy. “The trend in payment mechanisms is moving toward the tokenization of credit cards. This is being driven by companies like Visa and Mastercard, who are providing new digital use cases. We go even further with our platform. We intend to cover all of these cases as well as providing our customers new experiences they’ve never seen before,” explains Sanz.

Banks play an important role in bringing about the transition towards more secure payments: they are the ones that have to verify the customer data in order to authorize the creation of tokens for the different payment solutions. The BBVA platform allows this to happen globally, making customer card payments more secure - in any country and from any provider - thanks to tokenization.

Creating global products is one of the keys to BBVA’s transformation and represents one of its main challenges to becoming a digital company. The goal is to develop solutions that incorporate the Group’s best practices and whose components can be reused. In doing so, the bank is more efficient, can go to market more quickly, and creates a single user experience across the bank’s operating countries.

This includes mobile payment solutions like Google Pay and Apple Pay, as well as payment applications in “wearables” and in devices connected to the Internet of things. With this platform, BBVA also enables e-commerce providers (like Amazon and Netflix) to request tokens to store them in place of the credit card details, and thus reduce the risk of fraud. “We are betting on tokenization as the way forward because it enhances data and transaction security, which can help us reduce fraud while also fostering customer trust in the new solutions,” adds Sanz.

BBVA is also looking to the future and preparing to meet the customer requirements that emerge when the use of this type of system extends to cover solutions that give customers total control over their tokens directly from the banking app. “Being the first ones to offer our customers all these options when they are making payments is a key part of the bank’s digital transformation strategy,” says Sanz, who concludes by adding that BBVA aims to provide these new experiences to customers in various countries during 2019.