Spanish banking giant BBVA reached 3 million mobile application customers in its home market, with interactions rising 135 per cent year-on-year during May.

In a statement, the multinational bank said mobile customer numbers in Spain increased 30 per cent between December and May, when it recorded 56 million interactions over smartphones.

BBVA, which runs retail banking and mobile services across mostly Spanish-speaking markets, expanded into mobile payments and financial services during 2014 and quickly gained traction. It reported 1 million downloads within its first two years across Spain, Mexico, Chile and the US.

Gonzalo Rodriguez, BBVA head of digital transformation, said customers were now performing a greater number of transactions on their handsets.

The executive explained most mobile users initially use the service for basic operations including checking balances and transactions, before moving into more complex functions such as applying for a mortgage and other services he said “would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.”

“In fact, as of May, the smartphone accounts for more digital sales than the (bank’s) website,” Rodriguez added.