BBVA vs Mastercard: Founders, CEOs and History
BBVA was founded in 1857 by Bilbao Board of Trade and is led by Onur Genç. Mastercard was founded in 1966 by Karl Hinke and is led by Michael Miebach.
Company facts
BBVA
- Founded
- 1857
- Headquarters
- Madrid, Spain
- Current CEO
- Onur Genç
- Employees
- 127,174
Mastercard
- Founded
- 1966
- Headquarters
- Purchase, New York, United States
- Current CEO
- Michael Miebach
- Employees
- 39,800
Founders
BBVA
Bilbao Board of Trade
No individual is recorded as the founder of BBVA's oldest institution. Banco de Bilbao was created in 1857 after the Bilbao Board of Trade, the body representing the port city's merchants, promoted a bank that could issue banknotes and discount commercial bill…
Mastercard
Karl Hinke
Karl Hinke was an executive at Marine Midland Bank in New York who helped organize the Interbank Card Association in 1966.
CEOs and their tenures
BBVA
- Pedro Luis Uriarte1999–2001
Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive and vice chairman of BBV from September 1994 and of the merged BBVA until he retired at the end of 2001.
Source - Francisco Gonzalez2000–2018
Executive Chairman
Chaired Argentaria before its 1999 merger with BBV and then BBVA until December 2018, 22 years at the head of the group in total. He drove the bank's technology rebuild and the 2007 purchase of Compass Bancshares in the United States.
Source - Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri2001–2009
Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive of BBVA from 2001 to 2009, the period that covered the USD4.1 billion buyout of the rest of BBVA Bancomer in 2004 and the USD9.6 billion purchase of Compass Bancshares in 2007. He later chaired Bankia and CaixaBank.
Source - Angel Cano2009–2015
Chief Executive Officer
Appointed chief executive in September 2009, replacing Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri.
Source - Carlos Torres Vila2015–2018
Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive from May 2015 until December 31, 2018, when he became executive chairman and Onur Genc took over as CEO. He had joined BBVA in 2008 to run strategy and corporate development and led digital banking from 2014.
Source - Onur Genc2018–present
Chief Executive Officer
Took over as CEO on December 31, 2018, the day Carlos Torres Vila became executive chairman.
Source
Mastercard
- Robert W. Selander1997–2010
President and CEO
Selander turned a bank-owned association into an independent public company, completing the 2002 Europay merger and the 2006 NYSE IPO.
Source - Ajay Banga2010–2020
CEO
Banga oversaw a decade of rapid growth, pushed tokenization and digital wallets, and bought Vocalink to enter real-time account-to-account payments. He later became President of the World Bank in 2023.
Source - Michael Miebach2021–present
CEO
Miebach has expanded value-added services to about 41% of net revenue and added Recorded Future and BVNK, extending Mastercard into threat intelligence and stablecoin infrastructure.
Source
Timeline: BBVA and Mastercard side by side
1857BBVA
Banco de Bilbao is created
Bilbao's Board of Trade promotes the creation of Banco de Bilbao as a bank of issue and discount for the city's merchants. It is the oldest institution in BBVA's corporate line.
1901BBVA
Banco de Vizcaya is founded
Banco de Vizcaya is founded in Bilbao and grows alongside Banco de Bilbao as the second large Basque bank, financing regional industry.
1966Mastercard
Interbank Card Association Takes Shape
A group of U.S. Banks formed the Interbank Card Association to make card acceptance work across institutions rather than inside isolated bank programs.
1968Mastercard
Master Charge Brand Adopted
The association adopted the Master Charge name and interlocking-circle design to give member banks a stronger shared identity. A common brand made the network easier for merchants and consumers to recognize as acceptance expanded beyond local bank programs.
1979Mastercard
Master Charge Becomes MasterCard
The network changed its name from Master Charge to MasterCard as it became more international. The rebrand simplified recognition and helped the company present itself as a global acceptance network rather than a domestic bank-card association.
1988BBVA
Banco de Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya merge
The two Basque rivals merge to form Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV), one of the largest banks in Spain ahead of the European single market.
1999BBVA
BBV merges with Argentaria to create BBVA
BBV merges with Argentaria, the group Spain had assembled from state-owned lenders such as Banco Exterior, Banco Hipotecario and Caja Postal, forming Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria.
2000BBVA
BBVA takes control of Bancomer in Mexico
BBVA capitalizes Bancomer with USD1.4 billion and merges it with BBV-Probursa to create Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer, the largest bank in Mexico.
2002Mastercard
Europay Merger and Corporate Conversion
MasterCard merged with Europay International and converted from a membership association into a private share corporation. That structure prepared the company for public-market ownership and a more independent investment agenda.
2004BBVA
BBVA bids for the rest of BBVA Bancomer
BBVA offers USD4.1 billion in cash for the roughly 41 percent of BBVA Bancomer held by minority investors, ending with about 99 percent of the Mexican group.
2006Mastercard
Initial Public Offering on the NYSE
MasterCard priced its initial public offering at $39 per share and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MA.
2007BBVA
Compass Bancshares purchase builds a US franchise
BBVA buys Compass Bancshares of Birmingham, Alabama for USD9.6 billion, creating a Sunbelt retail bank that later traded as BBVA Compass and BBVA USA.
2010BBVA
BBVA agrees to buy 24.9 percent of Garanti
BBVA agrees to pay ~$4.74 billion (EUR4.195 billion), about USD5.84 billion, for 24.9 percent of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, funded with a rights issue of about $5.65 billion (EUR5 billion).
2014BBVA
BBVA wins the auction for Catalunya Banc
BBVA bids ~$1.34 billion (EUR1.187 billion) for Catalunya Banc, with 1.5 million customers and ~$71.2 billion (EUR63 billion) of assets, in the auction run by Spain's bank restructuring fund. The deal closed in 2015.
2017Mastercard
Vocalink Expands Real-Time Payments
Mastercard completed its Vocalink acquisition after announcing a deal for 92.4 percent of the U.K. Payments infrastructure company for about $920 million.
2018BBVA
Onur Genc is named CEO
BBVA's board designates Onur Genc as chief executive from December 31, 2018, the date Carlos Torres Vila replaces Francisco Gonzalez as executive chairman.
2019BBVA
BBVA unifies its brand worldwide
The group drops local names such as BBVA Bancomer, BBVA Francés, BBVA Continental and BBVA Compass and operates as BBVA in every market.
2020Mastercard
Finicity Strengthens Open Banking
Mastercard completed the acquisition of Finicity, a North American financial data and open banking platform. The deal added consumer-permissioned data connectivity for lending, account verification, personal finance, and account-based payment use cases.
2021BBVA
BBVA closes the transfer of BBVA USA to PNC
BBVA completes the transfer of BBVA USA Bancshares to PNC Financial Services on June 1, 2021, receiving about USD11.5 billion, equivalent to ~$10.8 billion (EUR9.6 billion), in cash.
2021Mastercard
Michael Miebach Becomes CEO
Michael Miebach became chief executive officer on January 1, 2021 after serving as chief product officer and president.
2021Mastercard
Nets Account-to-Account Business Closes
Mastercard completed the acquisition of the majority of Nets' Corporate Services business, adding clearing and settlement instant payment infrastructure, bill payment, and e-invoicing capabilities.
2022BBVA
Tender offer lifts the Garanti stake to 85.97 percent
A tender offer at 15 Turkish lira per share closes in May 2022 and raises BBVA's holding in Garanti BBVA to 85.97 percent.
2024Mastercard
Recorded Future Adds Threat Intelligence
Mastercard completed the acquisition of Recorded Future, adding AI-enabled threat intelligence to its cybersecurity, identity, and real-time fraud scoring services.
2025BBVA
The offer for Banco Sabadell lapses
Shareholders representing 25.47 percent of Sabadell's voting rights accept BBVA's all-share offer, short of the minimum BBVA required, and the bid lapses on October 16, 2025.
2025BBVA
Record net attributable profit of ~$11.9B (EUR10.511B)
BBVA reports gross income of ~$41.7B (EUR36.931B) and net attributable profit of ~$11.9B (EUR10.511B) for 2025, with ROTE of 19.3 percent and an efficiency ratio of 38.8 percent.
2025Mastercard
$32.8B FY2025 Net Revenue
Mastercard reported $32.791 billion in FY2025 net revenue and $14.968 billion in net income.
2026BBVA
BBVA is ordered to stand trial in the Villarejo case
Spain's National Court orders BBVA, former chairman Francisco Gonzalez and 14 other defendants to stand trial over work commissioned from former police commissioner Jose Manuel Villarejo between 2004 and 2016.
2026Mastercard
BVNK Adds Stablecoin Infrastructure
Mastercard closed its acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK on August 3, 2026, for up to $1.8 billion including contingent payments. The deal extends the company's network to on-chain payments alongside cards and bank transfers.
Acquisitions
BBVA
- Turkiye Garanti Bankasi tender offer (Turkey)2022Undisclosed
- Catalunya Banc (Spain)2014Undisclosed
- Turkiye Garanti Bankasi 24.9 percent stake (Turkey)2010$5.8B
- Compass Bancshares (United States)2007$9.6B
- BBVA Bancomer minority shares (Mexico)2004$4.1B
- Grupo Financiero Bancomer (Mexico)2000$1.4B
Mastercard
- BVNK2026$1.8B
- Recorded Future2024$2.6B
- Dynamic Yield2022Undisclosed
- Nets account-to-account payment business2021$3.2B
- Ekata2021$850M
- Aiia2021Undisclosed
Questions about BBVA vs Mastercard
Who is the CEO of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. and Mastercard Incorporated?
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. is led by Onur Genç and Mastercard Incorporated is led by Michael Miebach. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. founded vs Mastercard Incorporated?
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. was founded in 1857 — 109 years before Mastercard Incorporated, which was founded in 1966. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Mastercard Incorporated.
How many employees does Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. have compared to Mastercard Incorporated?
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. employs approximately 127,174 people, while Mastercard Incorporated employs approximately 39,800. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. has the larger workforce at 127,174 employees, compared to Mastercard Incorporated's 39,800. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. and Mastercard Incorporated headquartered?
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. is headquartered in Spain and Mastercard Incorporated is headquartered in United States. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. and Mastercard Incorporated?
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. was founded by Bilbao Board of Trade. Mastercard Incorporated was founded by Karl Hinke.
Which company has a longer operating history — Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. or Mastercard Incorporated?
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. has been operating for approximately 169 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Mastercard Incorporated has been in operation for around 60 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the BBVA vs Mastercard overview