BBVA Banco Francés SA, the Argentinian bank belonging to Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, is planning to rename itself BBVA as part of a global push by the bank to rebrand its global banking business.

According to a March 11 filing to the Argentinian stock exchange, the bank has started working on rebranding itself as BBVA following a decision by the parent company to have all its local businesses rename themselves as BBVA.

In the filing, BBVA Banco Francés said a global brand would allow the group to be more cost-efficient, create synergies, increase brand value, improve its digital reputation and help expansion into new markets and sectors.

BBVA's largest market is Mexico, accounting for 30% of gross income in 2018. The bank derived 15% of its gross income from South America in 2018, including Argentina.

Spanish newspaper El País quoted unnamed officials at its Mexican bank Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer SA de CV as saying that eliminating local brands would be complicated for Bancomer, which is the largest Mexican lender, as it would put customers off the bank.