By Douglas Hartung, Director of Global Software Research and Strategy Diebold.
Diebold recently joined the members-only Mobey Forum, a self-described “global industry association empowering banks and other financial institutions to lead in the future of mobile financial services.” As you might imagine, Diebold’s industry leadership in integrating mobile capabilities with services enabled at self-service terminals was of interest to this large group of global banks.
We all know that many forward-thinking banks are focused on transforming their businesses through technology innovation and are increasingly recognizing that this type of innovation is often accomplished through co-innovation with business partners. This philosophy is central to our co-innovation approach. Mobey Forum was born out of a need for this kind of thinking; its members collaborate through workgroups and member meetings to better understand some of the biggest and most disruptive trends affecting retail banking today. Working groups are currently engaged in studying predictive analytics, risk mitigation in mobile financial services, biometrics and bank disruption: all topics in which Diebold brings a unique perspective and expertise.
My sense is that the organizations involved recognize the value of external voices and the contributions of adjacent partners. After attending my first meeting in Zurich last month, I returned home more convinced than ever of the power of co-innovation.
Strategically, that philosophy aligns with our own internal innovation teams here at Diebold. As an innovation team, we extend the lab beyond our own walls, and partner in ways that ensure new innovations are closely tied to our customers’ real challenges. That spirit of co-innovation was alive and well at the Forum meeting and our participation is likely to extend our network of co-innovation partners across the various regions in which we do business.
One often overlooked – yet critical – benefit of being a large, experienced institution is that massive amounts of infrastructure are already in place. In Diebold’s own organization, that translates to the ability to provide global, end-to-end solutions that are as customized or off-the-shelf as our customers demand. For example, the EMEA Centre of Innovation (ECI), collaborates with financial institutions to design, build and deploy bespoke solutions.
When FIs are not yet sure where to begin on their branch transformation journey, they can call in our Advisory Services team to perform deep-dive analytics and on-site branch assessments, then act as the quarterback for the branch transformation process. And when an FI is pondering the really big questions in retail-banking life, the head-scratchers of technical possibility, that’s when our innovation teams step in to collaborate on the concepts that will move our entire industry forward for the long haul.
The transformation that Diebold is currently undergoing mirrors the transformations happening throughout the financial industry, and that makes it an incredibly interesting time for our company. Mobile and digital changes are affecting all of us, and Diebold is uniquely positioned at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds of currency. It’s an intersection that will become more critically important as these technological shifts continue – which is why we’re so interested in (and committed to) co-innovating on a global stage.
