BBVA Bancomer's challenge

BBVA Bancomer is Mexico's largest bank, with over 20% of the market and nearly 20 million clients. With competition heating up and online banking, big data and fintech changing the rules, it is betting on innovation and talent to stay on top. That's why its human resources team set out to build a great training ecosystem: multichannel, multidisciplinary and attractive to employees aged 18 to 65.

One key piece of that ecosystem was negotiation. Bank employees create and present offers to clients every day, and they need to convince, identify interests and create value together. Strengthening those skills was essential to keep driving the business and improve the presentation of new products, and it had to be done without falling back on boring, barely interactive e-learning.

  • Round off a training ecosystem that reaches every generation, from 18 to 65
  • Strengthen the negotiation skills of the product development department
  • Offer practical, interactive training beyond e-learning that taps into competitive spirit

The solution

BBVA Bancomer chose Merchants, Game Strategies' negotiation video game. Students become a Venetian merchant who must negotiate with important figures, Machiavelli included, on matters such as the silk trade, the sovereignty of several islands and Mediterranean trade routes.

Its content brings together techniques proven across hundreds of companies worldwide, with a focus on seeking alternatives, making the pie bigger and reaching win-win agreements. And you practice from the start: the simulator recreates six real situations in which students must negotiate and apply what they've learned, something that impressed the department heads who played it first.

The third ingredient was competition. Banking people love a challenge, and the ranking, which showed each player's position against their co-workers at all times, boosted motivation and the impact of the negotiation training.

The games they played

MerchantsNegotiation and deal closingTriskelionProductivity and Time ManagementPacificLeadership and Team Management

BBVA Bancomer on video

In their own words

With a series of credible and realistic situations, you can see if you are floundering or having success. We believe that the platform is as useful as real practice.

Carlos Gallardo FloresTraining Director, BBVA Bancomer

What I enjoyed the most about the platform was having to overcome each challenge. Banking people are competitive, they like challenges. And learning is much stronger in a competitive environment.

Carlos Gallardo FloresTraining Director, BBVA Bancomer

If you want to reach everybody in your company, you have to make use of all available technologies, including gamification and videogames.

Carlos Gallardo FloresTraining Director, BBVA Bancomer

The results

The rollout was a resounding success: 90% of employees finished the course, 90% would recommend it and 100% considered it applicable to their job or personal life. It went down so well that the training, initially intended only for department heads, was extended to other managers and middle management.

Word reached the bank's headquarters in Spain, which decided to expand the program to every country where the bank operates. BBVA Bancomer also started using other Game Strategies games, such as Triskelion (productivity and time management) and Pacific (leadership and team management), and its HR team in Mexico is designing a new program for a further 750 employees.

More about this case

BBVA Bancomer, the largest bank in Mexico with over 20% market share and nearly 20 million customers, faced the challenge of strengthening negotiation skills within its team through game-based learning.

Successful transformation

The goal was to improve key negotiation skills to drive business and innovation in a competitive environment. They were looking for practical, interactive training that stood out from traditional e-learning and motivated employees across all generations. The game provided high-quality content, experiential learning, and a competitive environment that significantly motivated the team. Its success led to the expansion of the initiative to other departments and countries, proving effective in improving skills and engagement at BBVA Bancomer.

90% of the students have completed the training.
90% of the students recommend it.
100% of the students find the course applicable.

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Shall we play?

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