HOUSTON, Aug. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Destacame.cl, a Chilean startup that allows underbanked individuals to build a credit score based on their history of paying everyday bills, has won the BBVA Open Talent 2015 Special Financial Inclusion Award. The award, a new component of this year's contest, is for startups that provide digital financial solutions to small businesses or low-income customers. 

Launched in July 2015 by MIT graduates Jorge Camus and Sebastian Ugarte, Destacame.cl helps individuals without credit history who are unable to secure many financial services, like auto loans or mortgages. Destacame.cl uses a customer's payment record for everyday bills, like electricity and gas, to build a credit profile. Data from the service is currently being used by three major Chilean financial institutions.

"Destacame.cl's service is an innovative answer to the question of how to widen access to financial services, and was a clear and worthy winner of the first BBVA Open Talent 2015 Financial Inclusion Award," said BBVA Head of Easy Banking & Financial Inclusion Carlos Lopez-Moctezuma.

As part of the award, Destacame.cl will present its product at September's Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Policy Forum held in Maputo, Mozambique. The company will also participate later that month in the BBVA Open Talent 2015 finals alongside 50 other startups from around the globe.

There are 2 billion underbanked adults worldwide, or 38 percent of the adult population. According to the 2014 Global Findex survey, in emerging markets, like Latin America, almost half of all adults — 49 percent — are underbanked

Jorge Camus, Destacame.cl's managing director, said, "To win the BBVA Open Talent 2015 Special Financial Inclusion Award so soon after launching will help Destacame.cl raise awareness of our mission to widen access to credit."

BBVA Open Talent 2015 announces finalists

Finals for BBVA Open Talent 2015 will be held in September and a list of finalists can be found here. BBVA Open Talent 2015 seeks to support the brightest and best among fintech startups and is part of BBVA's efforts to encourage entrepreneurship, innovation and competition in digital financial services.

Finals will be held in three regions: Latin America, Europe, and the U.S. and the rest of the world. Six winners — two from each region — each receive 30,000 euros in prize money, and will get a chance to network with and learn from BBVA Group executives and other industry professionals during a two-week immersion program in London and Mexico. Winners will also have the opportunity to enjoy a day of innovation in the kitchen of El Celler de Can Roca, BBVA's culinary tour partner, which landed at No. 1 again this year on Restaurant magazine's influential World's 50 Best Restaurants list.

About Destacame.cl
Destacame is the first self-reported behavior-based credit score in Latin America. It solves the asymmetry of information between those who want a consumer loan and financial institutions. By providing information about how people pay their utility bills, Destacame makes visible those without enough information to be credit worthy and helps loan-givers to improve their risk assessment models.

By owning their information and using it for their own benefit, users freely demonstrate that they are good payers, increasing their chances to get credit at better conditions, while also receiving offers for products that financial institutions and other companies post to each specific customer segment. Banks, on the other hand, by having more relevant and objective information of payment behavior of their prospect clients, reduce their default rate and increase their customer base by being able to "see" people who were invisible to the financial system. Destacame´s proprietary score algorithm is based on co-founders´ research done in MIT and Santiago.

About BBVA Group
BBVA Compass is a subsidiary of BBVA Compass Bancshares Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) (MAD: BBVA). BBVA is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a solid position in Spain, is the largest financial institution in Mexico and has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt region of the United States. Its diversified business is geared toward high-growth markets and relies on technology as a key sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate responsibility is at the core of its business model. BBVA fosters financial education and inclusion, and supports scientific research and culture. It operates with the highest integrity, a long-term vision and applies the best practices. The Group is present in the main sustainability indexes. More information about the BBVA Group can be found at www.bbva.com.

About BBVA Compass
BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 672 branches, including 341 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 77 in Arizona, 62 in California, 45 in Florida, 38 in Colorado and 20 in New Mexico, and commercial and private client offices throughout the U.S. BBVA Compass 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 (5th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration, and its mobile app recently earned the Mobile Banking Leader in Functionality Award for the second consecutive year from Javelin Strategy & Research. Additional information about BBVA Compass can be found at www.bbvacompass.com, by following @BBVACompassNews on Twitter or visiting newsroom.bbvacompass.com. 

Editor's Note:
BBVA Compass is a trade name of Compass Bank.

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