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Big banks with innovation labs see them as a way to improve the customer experience and to test new ideas in an industry facing disruption. Skeptics see potential for waste.
July 15
BankMobile, the fee-free, digital-only offshoot of Customers Bancorp in Wyomissing, Pa., is launching a technology development division called BankMobile Technologies.
Jay Sidhu, CEO of the $7.1 billion-asset Customers and BankMobile, said its initial focus will be on creating and developing technologies to improve the user experience of its customers.
"We want to develop technologies and investigate partnering with the most innovative fintech companies that can help dramatically improve the customer experience, while being fully compliant with all regulations," he said.
Whether it will sell its technology to other banks at a later time remains to be seen, according to Sidhu.
The division will operate as a separate entity "with its own unique mission" and be housed in an independent location in Lancaster, Pa., he said. It is recruiting 10 developers, designers and marketing professionals for the new group. None will be transferred from Customers Bank.
Payments and digital financial services veterans Dan Armstrong and Kirk Barrett will serve as chief digital officer and chief technology officer, respectively. Armstrong is the cofounder of Rabobank, a Netherlands-based Internet banking platform. Barrett co-founded Wingman, a company that provides a mobile app for manufacturer, franchise and enterprise sales teams.
