How Scotiabank is not Putting All Its Eggs in One Basket When It Comes to Innovation
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Making innovative partnerships is a big part of any serious company's strategy. In this spirit, Scotiabank is making all the right moves.
The Canada-based financial institution was first incorporated in 1832 by the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia. Originally named The Bank of Nova Scotia, the company's raison d'etre was to facilitate trans-Atlantic trade. It opened its first branch banking system soon after, and began expanding into the west and the United States in 1882. The first branch to hold the name 'Scotiabank' was opened in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1900.
Today, Scotiabank has many branches throughout Canada and South America, with additional exposure in niche private and investment banking locations. The company has revenues of $25,817 million, placing it at #424 on the Fortune Global 500. Scotiabank was the first Canadian bank to appoint a female bank manager in 1961.
Innovative Partnerships
Scotiabank is now in the process of accessing the world's top FinTech talent to collaborate on its digital transformation.
(Image source: nxtplabs.com)
It recently announced an innovative partnership with NXTP Labs - Canada and South America's leading accelerator for FinTech start-ups. NXTP has operations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay, and is at the forefront of early-stage funding provision for Latin America. The company has hundreds of skilled dedicated staff and has a philosophy of equality and community-driven collaboration.
"We are thrilled to partner with Latin America's premier start-ups accelerator to further advance our global digital banking strategy", said Nacho Deschamps, Group Head, International Banking and Digital Transformation at Scotiabank. "This partnership will allow us to gain competitive advantage, accelerate innovation, and form FinTech partnerships to offer innovative solutions to our 24 million customers."
Scotiabank also plans to offer the opportunity for one of NXTP's 35 2017 start-ups to visit Canada to meet Scotiabank's digital team and explore new partnership opportunities. The prize will be awarded to the FinTech company which has come up with the most innovative solution with the greatest potential for development.
"This partnership and prize will allow us to gain early visibility on transformative trends and technologies in the industry by leveraging our expertise and global scale," said Thayde Olarte, Vice President FinTech Partnership, Innovation, at Scotiabank. "We look forward to boosting our engagement in the Latin American start-up ecosystems to delight our customers across our footprint with simple, personalized banking experiences."
From Latin America to Israel
As well as the NXTP partnership, Scotiabank also announced a new collaboration with two of Israel's top technology firms - Viola Group and Team8. Viola group is a new venture fund with a mission to invest in fintech companies in Israel, Europe, and North America, and help them cross various growth stages.
"We are delighted to partner with Viola Group to accelerate the Bank's digital transformation and work with the most promising FinTechs across the globe," said Nacho Deschamps, Group Head, International Banking and Digital Transformation at Scotiabank. "This partnership will allow us to access Israel's innovation ecosystem - including well-established cybersecurity and anti-fraud expertise - by leveraging Viola Group's unique entrepreneurial and operational expertise."
Team8 is considered Israel's most prestigious security-focused thinktank, and their innovative partnership with Scotiabank will focus on driving customer experience through improved cybersecurity knowledge and methodology.
"We look forward to our partnership with Team8 to deepen our technology capabilities and know-how, which are foundational to Scotiabank's digital transformation," said Michael Zerbs, Chief Technology Officer at Scotiabank. "This partnership will increase our access to Israel's world-class cybersecurity and fraud prevention ecosystem."
Final Thoughts
Meaningful innovation is the beating heart of the machine which drives great customer experiences, both within and without the financial industry. From its earliest days, Scotiabank has clearly never been afraid to think outside the box and make forward-thinking decisions for the betterment of itself and the industry, and it is clearly dedicated to continuing this tradition into 2018 and beyond with these exciting, transformative and globe-spanning innovative partnerships.
The final word goes to Dave Dame, the Agile Leader at Digital Factory, Scotiabank's own digital innovation hub.
"The world around our customers is moving quicker than ever and they have new stresses. We can't have banking being one of those stresses. They get to do things easily, like ordering an Uber ride or ordering food by one click. We need to make our banking that unconscious, so they spend most of their time living their life and not focused on their banking."
You can hear Scotiabank's Director of Business Support and Operational Projects, Shannon Burch, speak at CXFS 2018 this July at the Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA.
Download the agenda today for more information and insights.