BBVA
Experiences, reviews and information about the provider
(product costs may apply)
Details
Pros
- Free current account with no requirement for salary deposits
- Interest on balances already on the current account
- Free debit card with cashback on card purchases
- Fully digital opening and app control
Cons
- Call money usually only usable in connection with the current account
- Interest advantage generally limited to a time-limited promotional period
- No German deposit protection, the Spanish FGD is responsible
- Still a narrow product range without securities and lending business
Fact sheet: BBVA
| Company name | BBVA |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Bilbao/Madrid |
| Country | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| BaFin-regulated | No |
| Deposit protection | €100,000 |
| Type | direktbank |
| Website | bbva.de * |
About BBVA
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) is one of Spain's largest banking groups and was formed in 1999 from the merger of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria; the roots of the house go back to the 19th century. BBVA has been active in retail banking in Germany since summer 2025, where it operates as a purely digital bank whose offer is controlled via an app. The offer includes a free, interest-bearing current account, a call money account that can usually only be opened in combination with the current account, and a debit card with a cashback component. Because BBVA does not operate in Germany with a German banking licence of its own, supervision lies not with BaFin (the German financial regulator) but with the Spanish supervisory network of the Banco de España and the European Central Bank; deposit protection is provided by the Spanish deposit guarantee fund Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos (FGD), which, as is usual across the EU, covers €100,000 per customer. The offer is attractive for savers who want to bundle interest and a current account and can live with a Spanish guarantee scheme.
Special features
- Supervision by the Banco de España and ECB instead of BaFin
- Deposit protection via the Spanish Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos
- Market entry in Germany only in 2025, expansion to a full bank announced
- Account managed exclusively via the app, no branches in Germany
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