German investment bank Deutsche Bank and Bank of China have launched their own innovation labs in Singapore.
Image: Deutsche Bank and Bank of China start innovation labs in Singapore. Photo: Courtesy of Markus Spiske/Unsplash.
Deutsche Bank stated that the latest move is part of its drive to digitalize and embrace emerging technologies to benefit its clients.
The new facility represents the German bank’s first innovation lab in Asia Pacific and completes the bank’s global network spanning from Berlin to London, New York, Palo Alto and now in Singapore.
According to the German lender, the innovation lab’s key objective will be finding the best startup opportunities across Asia Pacific, through Singapore, to scale globally across the bank’s platform.
Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific CEO Werner Steinmueller said: “Asia, particularly Singapore, is proving to be fertile ground for talented startups and we are very excited about the potential for partnerships here.
“The establishment of our newest Innovation Lab in Singapore is just the latest expression of our continued commitment and investment in our Asia Pacific platform, where we see abundant opportunity.”
Deutsche Bank innovation head Luc Mériochaud said: “The APAC Innovation Lab in Singapore completes our global network, and will allow us to source the best startups globally to address business needs wherever they may arise.
“Our APAC Innovation Lab will work closely with our Wealth Management business. It will also support our Corporate & Investment Bank in the region helping to play an important role in connecting stakeholders to our Innovation Labs in London, New York and Palo Alto which lead innovation efforts for CIB globally.”
Bank of China has also opened is innovation lab in Singapore. Through the innovation lab, the bank aims to lead in regional and global research and development work. It will partner with local startups, universities and the government.
The lab will be home to research and development in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud and big data. The facility will include a robotic customer service officer. This robot is equipped with facial recognition capability and can identify individual clients and recall their individual preferences.