BBVA Argentina

Banco BBVA Argentina S.A.

File:BBVA Banco Francés (casa matriz) II.JPG Bank headquarters in Buenos Aires
Company type	Sociedad Anónima
Traded as	BCBA: BBAR NYSE: BBAR BMAD: XBRF MERVAL component
Industry	Financial services
Founded	14 October 1886 (1886-10-14)
Headquarters	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Key people	Jorge Carlos Bledel (CEO)
Products	Banking, Insurance
Revenue	US$ 1.4 billion (2023)
Net income	US$ 1.45 billion (2023)
Total assets	US$ 24.4 million (2023)
Number of employees	6,009 (2023)
Parent	Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
Website	bbva.com.ar

BBVA Argentina, formerly BBVA Banco Francés, is a financial institution in Argentina.

History

Founded on October 14, 1886, in Buenos Aires as Banco Francés del Río de la Plata (English: French Bank of the River Plate), it is the oldest private bank in Argentina. Its Beaux-Arts headquarters, designed by Jorge Bunge, were inaugurated in 1926. Morgan Guaranty Trust acquired a 50% share in the bank in 1968, though the New York-based bank sold most of these to Alpargatas, a leading local industrial firm, a decade later. Despite the nation's economic woes during the 1980s, the Banco Francés expanded from 15 branches to 62 during the decade, and entered into a joint venture with Bankers Trust Company in 1986. Alpargatas sold its stake to local developer Eduardo Constantini in 1991, and entered into a second joint venture with Merrill Lynch in 1992. In December 1996, Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, (now Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), acquired the 99.9% of the common shares of Otar S.R.L., which was a major shareholder of Sud América Inversiones S.A., and holder of over 30% of the capital of Banco Francés, hence the BBVA in its name. The bank announced in 2013 it would relocate its headquarters to the Consultatio Tower, in the Catalinas Norte office park, upon the Tower's completion in 2015. In 2017, the bank once again relocated its headquarters in the newly built Torre BBVA. In 2019, BBVA unified its brand worldwide and BBVA Francés was renamed BBVA. In 2023, BBVA Argentina had 243 branches (56 of them digital and 24 fully digital), 895 ATMs, and 861 ATSs across the country.