BBVA Compass, the U.S. arm of Spanish giant BBVA, has a new head of business development, Jose Luis Elechiguerra, whose goal is to give customers products that will help them make better financial decisions. The key to delivering that promise for BBVA, or any digital bank, for that matter, is data.

“Data is the present and the future,” Elechiguerra told Bank Innovation.

In an interview, Elechiguerra shared with Bank Innovation details on his new role at BBVA, the bank’s opportunities in the U.S. market, and the role of data in the future of financial services.

Appointed to the position last month, he previously served as global head of data governance for the BBVA Group, based in Madrid. Before joining BBVA, he was a partner at McKinsey & Co. and R&D manager at Procter & Gamble Co. in Mexico City, Mexico. As head of business development, Elechiguerra reports to BBVA’s U.S. country manager, Javier Rodriguez Soler, and the bank’s global client solutions head, Derek White, in Madrid.

BBVA Compass Bancshares, Inc. is a Sunbelt-based bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, BBVA Compass, operates 644 branches, including 331 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45 in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 18 in New Mexico.

The conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Bank Innovation: As the new head of biz dev, what are the top three things on your immediate to-do list?

Jose Luis Elechiguerra: The first, and most important, is to learn about my team including who they are, what they do, and what drives them. People are the most important asset of any company, and I’m excited to learn what this team is about. Second, is to understand BBVA Compass’ strategy and business performance. I’ve only been on the job a little over a month, so this is a key effort. My third priority is to know the bank’s project portfolio, specifically those related to transformation projects so the team is positioned to leverage and capitalize on them.

BI: What does your role encompass?

JLE: Essentially, business development at BBVA Compass has two main functions. The first is to help the business by providing critical capabilities for its day-to-day operations. This includes business intelligence, marketing and campaigns, product development and more. The second function has to do with driving digital transformation. In business development, we create solutions that help transform the bank in alignment with our purpose and values. Our purpose at BBVA is to bring the age of opportunities to everyone, and because we are on the front lines of developing solutions that help our customers to make better decisions financially, our work is directly aligned with it.

BI: What is the bank’s greatest advantage from an innovation standpoint? Why?

JLE: What I think is particularly interesting about the U.S. is that it’s the most vibrant and competitive market in which the bank operates. It’s a great opportunity to learn about what we do here, the dynamics of the market, and how we as a group are competing. I believe the fact that we are a global bank is what distinguishes BBVA in the U.S. As a result of this, we are able to leverage the group in order to offer great solutions to our customers. In the U.S., we have one of the highest penetrations of customers using our apps, and we are always developing solutions to help customers make better decisions. We also have a robust strategy around using data and technology to create value-added products for our customers.

BI: What are some emerging technologies that interest you and why?

JLE: Data is at the center of what is changing the future of banking. Banks have used and managed data for many years, but in the last few years, there has been a shift because technology has evolved to allow the processing of larger volumes of data at a lower cost. This means we can explore more interesting analytical models and solutions. So, I’m really interested in all that has to do with artificial intelligence and cloud computing. I believe that data analytics, AI and cloud computing are the most interesting, but I’m also curious to see what happens with blockchain and quantum computing.

BI: Which trends will be paramount through the end of 2019?

JLE: I think data is the present and the future. We have such a richness of information about who our customers are and what they are doing that we can start to tailor products and create solutions that help them plan not only for short-term goals, but also medium- and long-term goals. It’s about how to make a better decision when you’re purchasing or investing for the future. At BBVA, we have started to create those products. For instance, we have Valora in Spain and we have Financial Tools for mobile and online banking in the U.S. At BBVA, our purpose is to bring the age of opportunity to everyone. That means we want to help our clients make better financial decisions. So, we are focusing on using data to do that. When we obtain useful insights through data, with customer consent, we leverage it to create solutions that help them make better decisions so they can fulfill their goals. This then increases their trust that we are doing the right thing for them, which begins the cycle of data leading to solutions and better financial decisions, again. It’s a virtuous cycle. Ultimately, we want to interact with our customers in a way that adds value. We use technology to do that, backed by banking knowledge and data. Studies show that money is the No. 1 cause of stress and people dedicate a varying amount of time to managing their money. If we can use data to help them manage their finances and, as a result, reduce their stress and help them to achieve their goals, we are aligned with our purpose.