SHOUTOUT FINTECHNA

You may have seen the buzz last week about Scotiabank’s newest workspace in Toronto – our Digital Factory, home to some of Canada’s top #technology and creative talent. Many stories focused on the impressive working space that is becoming the Bank’s Canadian digital headquarters.  But there is more to the story as #Scotiabank continues its journey to digitize banking for its 23 million customers around the world.  Here are five little known facts about Scotiabank’s #Digital Factory:

1.     It’s not *quite* as new as you think. While the space opened in Toronto in January, the team has been hard at work since October 2015 when the Digital Factory was first created. Since then, teams launched formative projects such as our new digital banking app that allows customer to apply for a chequing or savings account within minutes;  a partnership with global fintech player Kabbage to re-invent small business lending – shifting processing time for entrepreneurs to get approved on a loan from weeks to mere minutes. When at its full size, the Scotiabank’s flagship Digital Factory in Toronto will house more than 350 of Canada’s top technology talent under one enterprise-wide mission: to help Scotiabank provide a seamless, personalized experience to its customers, so they can be served how, when and where they want.

2.     It transcends global borders. The Digital Factory in Toronto is Scotiabank’s first fully-dedicated physical location for digital talent to work together under one roof, but this movement is actually happening around the world. We have opened Digital Factories in Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and each Digital Factory will be led by one of five Digital Banking leaders responsible for driving our digital strategy in the diverse markets we serve as Canada’s most international bank: Jeff Marshall (Canada), Fuencis Gomez (Mexico), Luis Torres (Peru), Daniel Kennedy (Chile), and Marcelino Herrera Vegas (Colombia).

3.   We’re aligning ourselves with the right partners. We have collaborated with organizations in the design, technology and #FinTech communities to explore unique opportunities and to change the way people feel about the future of banking. That’s why Scotiabank is partnering with a number of leading technology groups such as Georgian Partners, QED Investors, and Kabbage, and academic institutions including OCAD U, Ivey Business School, MaRS, Queen’s University, Rotman School of Management, Ladies Learning Code and more.

4.   The Digital Factory Space has been designed to maximize collaboration. The space is a techie haven, completely outfitted with everything you’d need from an inspiring workspace. It’s a space that has been thought out; a technology-forward design enabling scrum teams across the bank’s footprint to work together. In fact, all resident desks are sit-stand, and monitors include single connection for PC, Mac, and double monitor. We also recognize the need for balance. There’s a cafeteria onsite that serves many healthy food options, a gym with instructor-led classes and a health consultant onsite. There’s various team building zones in the facility including a games tables and even a bowling alley!

5.   You do not require banking experience to work here. The Digital Factory is currently recruiting for dozens of roles – product managers, front and back end developers, designers, agile scrum masters and many more. In fact, we are looking for people with non-traditional backgrounds to continue to build a diverse and strong team as possible.

About the Digital Factory:

The Digital Factory is a hub for creation and incubation of new and partner-led ideas to deliver game-changing solutions for Scotiabank customers. The Digital Factories are a cornerstone of Scotiabank’s digital transformation, and are focused on reinventing how banking serves people by first reinventing the way we work.

[linkedinbadge URL=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-hickes-3765235″ connections=”off” mode=”icon” liname=”Natalie Hickes”] is Recruitment Lead at Digital Factory