Canadian banks leaned into technology spend during the most recent quarter as efficiency and innovation remained a priority.
“Transformational level use of technology, creating capacity and business velocity,” is top of mind for Canadian clients, Karin Kirkwood, president of Canada-based fintech Broadridge Canada, told Bank Automation News.
She added that banks are focused on three things:
- Increasing capacity;
- Delivering innovation; and
- Providing consistency across customer touch points.
Banks are working to remove time-intensive manual processes and “redirect that capacity to providing higher value for our clients,” she said.
This week, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Bank all reported earnings that reflect increased tech spend and an uptick in innovation and overall digital channel usership.
Tech spend
The Canadian banks reported increases in non-interest expenses and some broke out technology-specific spending.
$1 trillion Scotiabank, for one, upped its tech spend 13% year over year to CA$570 million ($421 million), according to the bank’s earnings supplement.
$311 billion National Bank of Canada also increased tech spend 3.6% YoY to $190 million as the bank invested in technology across its business lines including wealth management, financial markets, and personal and commercial banking.
Innovation
As tech spend grew, the banks invested in innovation to keep up with growing customer demand for digital capabilities.
During the quarter, the following digital solutions launched:
- $960 billion BMO rolled out its BMO Eclipse Rise Visa card to help clients establish strong financial habits; and
- $1.9 trillion TD Bank added Tap to Pay on iPhone and enabled Zelle for small businesses.
Digital adoption
The banks also reported an increase in digital adoption across their mobile and digital channels.
TD Bank’s mobile usership increased 7.7% YoY to 5 million users in the United States and grew 8.5% YoY to 7.7 million users in Canada, according to the bank’s earnings presentation, released today.
The banks reported the following digital adoption:
| Bank | Active mobile usership | % Change YoY |
| RBC | 7M | 12% |
| Scotiabank | 4.8M | 7% |
| TD Bank | 12.7M | 2% |
Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars.
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Whitney McDonald
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