Spain's BBVA Faces Fight for U.S. Hispanic Market

NEW YORK CITY July 8, 2004 (Bloomberg) -- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain's No. 2 bank by assets, joined the struggle for U.S. Hispanic consumers with its purchase of Valley Bank in southern California, the Wall Street Journal said, citing interviews with bank officials.

BBVA's purchase last month of Valley Bank is the Bilbao, Spain-based bank's first state license to offer credit cards, mortgages and savings accounts in the U.S. It will use a unit of Mexico's largest bank, Grupo Financiero BBVA-Bancomer, which it controls, to build on Bancomer's business, which Mexicans in the U.S. use to send money home to families, the paper said.

BBVA will face competition from Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co.. which are also seeking customers among the 50 million U.S. Latinos, the paper said.

Citigroup's Citibank bought Grupo Financiero Banamex-Accival SA, Mexico's second-largest bank, and Bank of America acquired 25 percent of Grupo Financiero Santander Serfin, a unit of Spain's Grupo Santander, the paper said.