Umpqua Holdings in Portland, Ore., has created a unit dedicated to disrupting the banking industry.
The $23 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that Pivotus Ventures will be based in California's Silicon Valley.
Pivotus is expected to foster collaboration among financial institutions and parties in other industries such as data analytics and user design. The company said that Umpqua Bank will serve as the "real-time test environment" for any innovations.
"Like all industries, banking must evolve quickly to adapt to changing consumer behaviors and technologies," Ray Davis, Umpqua's president and chief executive, said in the release.
"In collaboration with like-minded organizations, Pivotus will be focused on creating new digital models that accelerate growth, add accretive revenue and enhance the customer experience across all channels," Davis added. "By bringing together the expertise of companies nationally and internationally, Pivotus will be uniquely positioned to develop and scale industry-changing innovation quickly and effectively."
