Ivey’s Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab Promotes Fintech

In March 2016, the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab at Ivey Business School was announced as a collaborative partnership. Since, its creation, the lab has focused on the growing financial technology sector—fintech as its widely known.

“Broadly described, fintech is the use of technology to provide financial services,” Michael King, the Tangerine Chair in Finance, told Business London. “It can include chequing, insurance, wealth management, and unique financial services like Apple Pay.”

The Digital Banking Lab will conduct research, offer education, and perform outreach within the financial technology sector. The goal is to keep Ivey Business School and its students up-to-date on the reality of the financial market. Participants in the Lab will study how banks and tech start-ups are transforming the financial services sector, and will discuss policy to understand the implications of the new technology better.

The reality is that there are approximately 300 tech startups in Canada running a fintech add-on service. These companies want to partner with big banks and introduce their new technology to the market to compete with credit and debit cards. The Digital Banking Lab will track these new technologies and offer a leadership perspective.

“Our digital transformation is one of the most critical things we are working on,” Randy Lyons, Senior Vice-President of Enterprise Strategy for Scotiabank, told The Globe and Mail. “Partnering with universities and business schools gives us access to innovative thinking, deep research and a talent pool [of graduates].

Scotiabank committed $3 million in funding over a ten-year period to create the Digital Banking Lab. The focus of the lab will be to promote projects that address the impact of digitization and disruption in the financial sector. The Lab will also offer internships and field study opportunity to Ivey students while co-sponsoring events that demonstrate Scotiabank’s and Ivey’s thought leadership.

To learn more about the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab, visit the school website.

regions: Toronto

About the Author