Spanish banking giant BBVA is increasingly interacting with its customers via mobile and digital channels.

The bank said 8.5 million of its customers connect with it mainly through their mobile devices (December 2015 figure), up from 5.9 million a year earlier. That’s a growth rate of 45 per cent.

BBVA is a heavyweight domestically but is also a significant player in Mexico and South America, as well as the US and Turkey.

The bank’s wide digital base (including mobile) rose by 19 per cent to 14.8 million during 2015, indicating mobile engagement is faster growing.

BBVA is attempting to exploit this trend and step up its activities in this area. Its latest move was the purchase of a 29.5 per cent stake in Atom, a mobile-only British bank, in November.

“We have 8.5 million customers who use their mobile but the important factor is not the number but rather the rate of growth. Mobile users are up 45 per cent compared to 2014. Therefore the pace of digital transformation is going very well,” said BBVA chairman Francisco Gonzalez.