Company: BBVXF
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000842180-25-000010
Chunk: 10

Company: BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 10
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 the banking industry has created larger banks with which the Group must compete. Any failure by the Group to adapt to its competitive environment or failure to implement any necessary changes to its business model efficiently or on a timely basis could have a material adverse impact on the Group’s competitive position or otherwise have a material adverse effect on the Group’s business, financial condition and results of operations. 
The future success of the Group depends, in part, on its ability to use technology to provide suitable products and services for customers and adequately manage information technology obsolescence. While the Group has focused on developing its technological capabilities in recent years and is committed to digitization, its ability to capture the benefits of emerging technologies and otherwise compete successfully is likely to be adversely affected by, on the one hand, the existing uneven playing field between banks and non-bank players, and on the other hand, the increasing relevance of access to digital data and interactions for customer relationship management, which places digital platforms at an advantage. Digital platforms (such as those maintained by large technology or social media companies, and FinTechs) increasingly dominate access to data and control over digital interactions, and are already eroding the Group’s results in highly relevant markets such as payments. These platforms can leverage their advantage in access to data to compete with the Group in other markets and could reduce the Group’s operations and margins in its core businesses such as lending or wealth management. Some of the Group’s competitors have created alliances with BigTechs that may affect the Group’s ability to compete successfully and could adversely affect the Group. In the event that the Group is not successful in addressing increasing competition, its business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
The Group faces risks derived from its international geographic diversification and its significant presence in emerging countries, which exposes it to heightened political risks
The Group is made up of commercial banks, insurance companies and other financial services companies in various countries and its performance as a global business depends on its ability to manage its different businesses under various economic, social and political conditions, as well as different legal and regulatory requirements (including, among others, different supervisory regimes and different tax and legal regimes related to the repatriation of funds or the nationalization or expropriation of assets). In addition, the Group’s international operations may be exposed to risks and challenges to which its local competitors may not be exposed, such as currency risk, the difficulty of managing or supervising a local entity from abroad, political risks (which could affect only foreign investors) or limitations