Scotiabank opens a digital factory to drive innovation

Scotiabank’s digital factory will house more than 350 jobs for technology talent focussing on digital innovations and solutions.

The jobs will function under one enterprise-wide mission to upgrade the customer’s experience.

“Through Scotiabank’s Digital Factory, we will hire in key areas to support customer-driven innovation and play a leading role in the revolution of banking. Technology’s role in delivering a superior customer experience will define banking for the next five to 10 years, and we have the opportunity to create an organization that will influence how that unfolds, right here and right now,” said Kyle McNamara, executive vice president and co-head, Information Technology.

This is part of a recent trend of banks expressly shifting their business strategies to focus more on digital channels. Earlier this month Scotiabank became the first bank in Canada to offer a mobile wallet for credit and debit cards on both Android and BlackBerry devices, whilst Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce implemented a migration strategy for digital services by investing roughly $70m a year on transforming the bank’s 1,000-plus branch network and adopting  a ‘mobile first‘ approach.

These shifts are primarily driven by the Canadian consumer demands, over half of whose monthly interactions with a bank are done through digital channels.

The new ‘Digital Factory’ initiative will be fully operational by mid-2016, with the work having already begun: the factory already has three customer-driven innovation labs -coined Rapid Labs – in which joint business and technology teams reimagine key banking experiences.

“When people think about working at a bank, they typically think about the branch. But customers interact with banks in so many other ways — on their phones, through tablets and online. That is why the development of the Digital Factory excites me. In the Rapid Labs we are working collaboratively in real time with teammates from different backgrounds to constantly push our boundaries and find the right solutions for our customers. The energy is extremely high, and it’s amazing to see what we can accomplish together,” added Monica Reyes, Rapid Lab team member.

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