Canada’s Scotiabank is undergoing what it calls a “digital transformation,” and to that end has announced a new “Digital Factory” that will bring together about 350 tech-savvy employees to develop new and innovative solutions for the bank. It’s an expansion from the three innovation-focused “Rapid Labs” that the organization has already instituted.
There are a number of prongs to this new initiative. In its effort to develop this innovation hub, Scotiabank says it’s going to collaborate with FinTech startups, and will also create new roles for UI and UX developers, agile workflow experts, data analytics, and other areas. Scotiabank also points out that a few years ago it acquired Tangerine, a pioneering bank in the area of biometric authentication. Last year it became the first bank in Canada to introduce biometric login to its mobile app via Touch ID, and later it added voice authentication via Nuance Communications’ technology; now, Scotiabank says it’s exploring facial recognition.
It’s a timely move, especially considering the efforts of other players in the industry as they strive to keep up with potentially disruptive technological innovations. Rival Canadian bank TD Canada appears to be readying for the Canadian launch of Apple Pay, for example, which enables NFC-based mPayments with fingerprint authentication; and another Canadian bank, Manulife, recently announced a passive, voice-based identification system for its call center system. It’s an exciting time for FinTech, and Scotiabank is smart to get on the bandwagon.
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October 16, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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