To build innovative products and meet — or even exceed — customer expectations, banks are employing a mix of internal and external investment. Four bankers took to the stage last week at PayVest to discuss the innovation units at their institutions and how they are cultivating innovation both inside and outside the banks’ walls. Thomas Whiteaker, executive director, BBVA Ventures, said that his unit was focused primarily on external partnerships, but devoted resources to cultivating innovation within the bank as well. BBVA Ventures set aside an impressive $100 million for strategic investment in startups. One startup that the group funded is Berlin-based Square rival SumUp, according to Whiteaker. The primary obstacle to innovation for bankers? “Bureaucracy — layers of management make it hard, so we partner,” Whiteaker said. BBVA, as a consumer bank, is looking primarily at consumer-facing technologies in the startup world, but backend applications focused on big data and cybersecurity are also of interest. Whiteaker also addressed the place of the large tech vendors in the conversations between banks and startups, saying, “If we’re bringing vendors to the table, we’re failing to do our job.” The field is wide-open, and banks need to be surveying it for startups that fit [...]
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