For millions of Canadians, the front door to their bank is on their phone. At TD alone, 8.9 million active mobile clients open their banking app an average of 22 times a month to check their balance, transfer money, or pay a bill.
With the introduction of AI, more Canadians are now expecting a new level of predictive and personalized mobile experiences. TD is using the technology to take those experiences a step further and make them more human.
“We’re approaching this thoughtfully, because clients should feel supported as digital banking evolves.”
Instead of building experiences that make clients feel like they’re navigating menus, TD wants to build experiences that help clients anticipate what’s next and manage their finances with less effort. The technology may be evolving, but the client experiences are becoming simpler and faster instead of more complex.
TD is heading into this shift from a leading position. Its mobile app recently ranked first in customer satisfaction in the JD Power 2026 Canada Banking Mobile App Satisfaction Study, receiving the highest score for information, tools/capabilities, system performance, and design.
“We’re very proud of that recognition,” said Natasha Struminikovski, Vice-President of Digital Engagement at TD. “It reflects both the trust our clients place in our digital banking experience at TD, and the extreme level of focus we have in creating experiences that are fast, intuitive, personalized, and more proactive.”
The JD Power win gives the bank plenty to build on. TD is now looking at how best to use AI-powered features to make digital banking experiences feel more human and easier to navigate without compromising reliability, security, or trust.
In July, for example, TD introduced a new in-app payroll deposit switching experience for Canadian clients, a first among Canada’s financial institutions, helping clients switch payroll deposits quickly and securely in about a minute, with most employers. In collaboration with US-based FinTech company Atomic, TD has brought a once multi-step journey into a single, secure experience in the app.
“We need to make sure we are continuing to boost the level of service that our clients expect from us,” said Struminikovski. “With digital direct deposit, we’re transforming that experience through a secure, integrated solution that simplifies a critical step in establishing everyday banking relationships.”
Innovating without breaking what works
Finding the right balance isn’t easy. Startups tend to embrace a move-fast-and-break-things culture. But for banks, pushing forward looks different. Digital banking experiences must keep getting simpler and faster for clients, while remaining secure and accessible. At TD, the strategy includes exceeding client expectations now and in the future. The first step is to build the technical foundation, then introduce new experiences gradually.
Lawrence Wong, Vice-President of Enterprise Digital Servicing Technology at TD, said clients can try out different forms of interaction without feeling forced to adopt new habits. Clients paying a bill or completing some other tasks could follow the familiar screens on the app or ask the app’s AI assisted chat to help them.
Image courtesy TD.
“We’re approaching this thoughtfully, because clients should feel supported as digital banking evolves,” said Wong. “The goal is to give them more intuitive ways to bank while making sure the experience remains reliable, familiar, and easy to use.”
To help make that possible, Wong’s team has moved more of the organization’s digital capabilities to the cloud, and separated functions, such as bill payments and account transfers, so TD can manage them more independently. If bill-payment activity spikes, for example, TD can add capacity to that service without making the same change to other parts of the app. Engineers can also update the bill-payment experience with less risk of affecting other functions.
“Part of what we’ve done over the last five years is invest heavily in building a really solid architectural foundation,” Wong explained. “This gives us the confidence that we can move at a much faster pace and create change and innovation.”
That groundwork is going to support intent orchestration—that is, using AI to identify moments when a client may need guidance and sending them in the right direction.
It could be someone trying to add a utility company as a new bill payee, for example. They may pause because they’re unsure which account number to enter. Rather than leaving them to search for instructions, the app would recognize that they appear to be stuck, and offer to guide them through the remaining steps.
“This is an experience layer that we’re trying to embed into the app to deliver a seamless experience for clients,” said Wong. “Behind the scenes, the architecture is interpreting all these signals to try to figure out how best to help.”
Over time, that same technology could allow clients to state what they want to do instead of searching through menus for the right function. Wong expects those changes to evolve through optional assistants, prompts, and suggestions rather than an abrupt redesign.
Making banking easier, with human support when it matters
For Struminikovski, the first question to ask before making any changes is: does it solve a real client problem?
“We can’t just implement AI for AI’s sake,” she said. “What we’ve heard from our clients is that they’re looking for AI to make things easier for them by taking on some of the daily mental load they carry about banking tasks and planning. At TD, we’re keeping the human elements of trust and meaningful relationships at the centre of everything we do, while leveraging AI and data to offer the experiences and services clients need to thrive.”
Image courtesy TD.
To get a handle on where clients feel the most friction, TD continuously reviews client surveys and seeks out input from frontline colleagues. Designers then use focus groups and testing to verify both the problem and the proposed solution. That input shapes the entire process, from the initial idea through development, launch, and ongoing improvements to ensure that the Bank is constantly evolving and raising the bar to meet clients’ needs, said Struminikovski.
It also helps determine if AI is needed at all. Some routine tasks may lend themselves to automated assistance, while other situations call for a conversation with a person.
“If a client wants to talk to a human, they should be able to talk to a human,” she noted. “Our branch colleagues and phone agents are available to support clients during branch business hours and on EasyLine 24/7. Frontline colleagues are critical to our digital-first, human always approach, too: great technology backed by real support when it matters.”
Critically, not every client is expected to embrace AI at the same pace. Some will be ready to try new tools right away, while others may want more time or prefer to stick with what they know. Struminikovski said that TD’s digital strategy makes room for both.
“We need to make sure that if a client is interacting with us, regardless of what channel they’re in, they’re receiving consistency and modern digital convenience with the security, trust, advice, and support clients expect from a full-service bank. At TD, our focus is supporting clients not just in big moments, like buying a house, getting married, having a child, going off to university, or retiring, but also in small moments, like paying a bill, moving money between accounts, or finding a recent transaction. We want to ensure that we’re meeting them in every single moment of need, offering refreshingly simple experiences that help them thrive throughout their financial journeys.”
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Download the TD app on the App Store (iOS) or on Google Play (Android). For more information, visit the TD Stories Innovation & AI page to learn more about how the bank is delivering meaningful digital client experiences.
TD received the highest score in the JD Power 2026 Canada Banking Mobile App Satisfaction Studies which measure customer satisfaction with financial institutions’ mobile applications for banking account management. Visit jdpower.com/awards for more details.
Feature image courtesy TD Bank.