Like many other financial institutions, Scotiabank is turning to tech startups to facilitate the next generation of FinTech innovation in Canada. The bank announced today that it is establishing Digital Factory, an incubator dedicated to finding solutions for digital banking experiences.
The Digital Factory will house more than 350 jobs for its tech talent under one enterprise-wide mission: to help Scotiabank provide a seamless, personalized experience to its customers. The incubator, which is expected to open in mid-2016, will be located in Toronto’s downtown core, and feature UI and UX designers, data scientists, and agile developers.
“We serve 21 million customers globally and their lives and expectations are changing quickly, so their banking experience must too,” said Michael Zerbs, executive vice president and co-head of information technology at Scotiabank. “Scotiabank’s Digital Factory will create an environment where our teams can be flexible, adventurous, empowered and challenged to design and deliver a game-changing customer experience. We are excited to engage top technology minds to help us deliver on that experience.”
This isn’t the first time that Scotiabank has taken steps to ensure that it is on top of FinTech innovation — in 2012, Scotiabank acquired Tangerine, which was the first bank to launch biometric authentication through voice banking and Touch ID for its mobile banking app. The bank has also established Rapid Labs, three customer-driven innovation labs which bring tech teams together to make banking easier for its customers.
“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,” said Kyle McNamara, executive vice president and co-head of information technology. “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.”