BBVA has updated its AI-powered virtual assistant Blue to include account and card management capabilities as the bank seeks to provide a more personalised customer experience.

The revamped chatbot will now be using natural language to provide services including tailored information on client finances, as well as perform some of the most common account and card transactions thanks to its large language models (LLM) interpretation and language generation capabilities.

The bank said that, unlike some other virtual assistants that address a variety of topics, the chatbot is designed to work solely in the banking sector.

“The assistant focuses exclusively on the customer’s information and transactions related to BBVA,” said the bank. “To ensure its proper functioning, validations and guardrails were put in place that guarantee that all responses are aligned with the bank’s commercial, reputational and legal requirements.”

It also confirmed that the private information of each user is only used in the context of the active conversation and is not stored or used outside of BBVA environments.

BBVA has also created a co-pilot to support the daily work of its branch employees. The assistant is based on more than 30,000 references which encompass an entire catalogue of BBVA products and services that are updated daily. This new system is currently available to more than 100 agents, helping them to answer questions and requests for information.

The bank said that the virtual assistant upgrade and its new co-pilot BBVA aim to put AI at the disposal of its customers, with the tools aiming to humanisze BBVA’s digital channels through much friendlier interactions and more empathetic responses.

BBVA is rolling out the new service on 20 February in Spain, with the bank’s AI factory team participating in the technical aspects. It said that it is aiming for the technology to gradually reach all of its customers.

It added that customers can opt to cancel the conversation with the chatbot to request assistance from a human agent.

At the end of last month, BBVA said it expects to reach 20,000 technology employees this year.


In recent years, the Spanish bank has been actively seeking out engineers, mathematicians, and experts across AI, cybersecurity and data management to join its workforce.

Over the past three years, BBVA has added 10,100 new data and technology professionals to its workforce.

The bank expects to boost this number with a further 1,100 new hires to reach a total workforce of 20,000 people dedicated to these roles.

The move comes after BBVA extended its partnership with the University of Navarra last November to launch a training programme for over 150 managers to improve productivity through the use of generative AI (genAI).

In 2023, the bank created BBVA Technology in Europe, a company that brings together the group's three technology companies: BBVA Next Technologies, BBVA IT Spain and Datio.

Last year, it broadened the scope of its brand with the roll out of BBVA Technology in America. By the end of last year, over 3,000 new technology roles had been added.

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