HOUSTON, April 6, 2020
/PRNewswire/ -- BBVA USA today announced its commitment of
more than $3.7 million to support
organizations that are providing community support in response to
the coronavirus pandemic. The funds are earmarked for a combination
of community support, including a distribution of $1 million in rapid response funding.
In recent days the bank has also put together a full program of
special employee benefits tailored to the evolving COVID-19
situation, offering assistance in areas of health insurance,
financial protection and work environment safety precautions.
"Our priority is, and has been since day one, focused around our
employees, clients and communities," said BBVA USA President and CEO Javier Rodriguez Soler. "We are confident that
these measures in tandem with our previously-announced client
offerings will address the most immediate needs and others that
will be identified as the crisis evolves."
BBVA USA Community
Commitment
Rapid Response: As a first step in its
response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, BBVA USA is committing $1
million in grants to a select group of current BBVA
Foundation grant recipients that are working to address basic
needs, healthcare response and small business assistance across the
bank's footprint.
"We are working through nonprofit partner relationships across
our footprint to identify and fill immediate needs including
emergency financial support to cover lost wages, rent and utility
relief," said BBVA USA Director of
Communications and Responsible Business Reymundo Ocañas. "Working
with our established partners helps us deploy support as quickly as
possible."
Ocañas indicated that additional phases of rapid response
support would also provide funding for healthcare response and
small business assistance for organizations that are open and
actively serving clients.
Corporate Contributions: As another layer of action, BBVA
USA is deploying a total of
$2 million in large dollar corporate
contributions to organizations that are able to implement
footprint-wide efforts that support low-to-moderate income
communities impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. This effort includes
grants to food banks and small business support through Community
Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and other
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support micro and small
businesses.
Public Health Support: In parallel with its global
holding company, BBVA USA has also
begun working to procure $500,000 in
essential materials and other public health support for nonprofit
partners, including gloves, hand sanitizer and N95 masks. The bank
is working to procure these items for distribution in April and May
through its existing purchasing partners.
BBVA Group earlier announced its commitment of €25 million
to combat the coronavirus outbreak, later raising it to €35
million, helping health authorities and social organizations and
fostering scientific research in countries where it operates.
1:1 Matching Campaign: The BBVA Compassion Fund, an
employee grant fund first started to support employees in the
aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, will be expanded soon thanks to a
$150,000 contribution from the bank.
Employees are encouraged to donate to the fund which supports team
member needs, and BBVA USA will
match their contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to an additional
$100,000. The proceeds will support
BBVA USA employees impacted by
COVID-19.
Rent Relief: BBVA USA is
also providing rent relief to its third-party tenants in bank owned
buildings for the month of April. The relief includes rent, all
common area maintenance, parking and utilities. The bank will
continue to monitor the need for additional rent relief
support.
Virtual Volunteerism: BBVA USA is engaging employees in virtual
volunteerism in an effort to support community partners in
locations across its footprint. Virtual volunteer efforts will
include attendance in partners' virtual board meetings, instructing
online financial education classes, and mentorship through digital
channels. Local BBVA employee volunteer chapters will be reaching
out to partners to identify remote volunteer opportunities that can
be performed during the duration of the pandemic.
Center for Financial Education Virtual Workshops: The
BBVA Center for Financial Education, an initiative to improve
financial health and capabilities, will transition its in-person
workshops to virtual education with a special focus on
low-to-moderate income communities. The Center is developing new
financial education material to specifically address the needs of
communities impacted by COVID-19 such as mobile banking and debt
management. Virtual workshops will begin in early April with nine
(9) community partners, and will expand in May.
"Banks are considered essential businesses during this crisis,
and we take that responsibility very seriously. We believe we can
be an important part of the solution," said Ocañas. "Coming at this
from a position of strength, we can and will step forward to help
improve the situation wherever we can."
New benefits offered to employees during the COVID-19
pandemic
In recent weeks, bank employees have been offered assistance in
areas of health insurance, financial protection and work
environment safety precautions. The bank made the benefits
available to employees across its footprint in order to safeguard
teammates during the ongoing outbreak.
"I have been inspired by how diligent and courageous our
employees have been in continuing bank operations, while adapting
to changing work, personal and home environments during these
challenging times," said BBVA USA
President and CEO Javier Rodriguez
Soler. "The bank has a responsibility to protect them while
they are in turn protecting our customers and ensuring continuity
of business."
COVID-19 tests and treatments: BBVA USA's health insurance plans are fully
covering all in-network COVID-19-related tests and
treatment. Employees and their covered dependents who are on
BBVA USA health plans will not be
required to satisfy their deductible before the plan begins paying
100 percent of the expense, and will not be required to pay
co-insurance.
Health accounts and telemedicine services: Employees
and their covered dependents who are on a BBVA USA health plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Alabama will not be required to
satisfy their deductible, nor pay any coinsurance, before the plan
begins paying 100% of the expense for all telemedicine services,
not just those related to COVID-19. Employees and their covered
dependents who are on a BBVA USA
health plan can also use Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts
(FSA), Healthcare Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) and Healthcare
Savings Accounts (HSA) for the purchase of over-the-counter drugs
without a prescription from a physician.
Paid time off and leave: The bank has announced it is
making 10 days of paid time off available for employees
experiencing qualifying situations related to COVID-19 that are
rendering them unable to work.* In addition, BBVA USA has implemented a special leave program
for employees experiencing qualifying situations who are unable to
work for an extended period of time.
Retirement savings access: BBVA USA is currently working to amend its
retirement savings program to allow eligible employees to access up
to $100K of their 401(k) accounts,
penalty-free, for qualifying COVID-19 related reasons.
Work-from-home extension: To provide safety for employees
and contribute to flattening the curve of COVID-19 cases, the bank
is indefinitely extending its work-from-home model for every
employee who has such capabilities. Essential employees working
from BBVA offices and branches for business continuity purposes are
practicing responsible social distancing guidelines.
"The bank's Talent & Culture team is working around the
clock with all of BBVA USA's lines
of business to figure out the best and most efficient ways to
secure the well-being of our employees," said BBVA USA Chief Talent & Culture Officer
Rosilyn Houston. "When this pandemic
is over, we want to look back and be absolutely confident that we
did everything within our ability to provide certainty during
uncertain times for our people."
Special client offers
In addition to community and employee support, BBVA USA previously announced that it is providing
assistance across its footprint to those who have been negatively
impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, including special offers for
consumers and small businesses, and specialized benefits for
employees.
"COVID-19 provides us an opportunity like one we've never seen
before - it's an opportunity to live our values," Rodriguez Soler said. "We want to put our
strengths, our skills and our talents to work to mitigate the
economic and social impact of this outbreak and we're doing that by
focusing all of our collective efforts on what we can do to best
help our employees, clients and communities during their individual
time of need."
For more BBVA news visit, www.bbva.com and the U.S.
Newsroom.
Additional news updates can be found via Twitter and
Instagram.
For more financial information about BBVA in the U.S., visit
bbva.investorroom.com.
*Employees located in New York
City are being offered 14 days paid time off.
About BBVA
BBVA Group
BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) is a customer-centric global financial services
group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position
in the Spanish market and is the largest financial institution in
Mexico. It has leading franchises
in South America and the Sunbelt
Region of the United States. It is
also the leading shareholder in Turkey's BBVA Garanti. BBVA's purpose is to
bring the age of opportunities to everyone, based on our customers'
real needs: provide the best solutions, helping them make the best
financial decisions, through an easy and convenient experience. The
institution rests in solid values: Customer comes first, we think
big and we are one team. BBVA's responsible banking model aspires
to achieve a more inclusive and sustainable society.
BBVA USA
In the U.S., BBVA is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that
operates 641 branches, including 329 in Texas, 89
in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45
in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 17 in New
Mexico. The bank ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial
banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest
banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th)
and Arizona (6th). In the U.S., BBVA has been recognized
as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business
Administration (SBA) and ranked 8th nationally in terms of dollar
volume of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2018.
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SOURCE BBVA USA