Commonwealth Bank of Australia is to launch an innovation lab in both Hong Kong and London to create a joined-up global approach to new tech initiatives across the bank.
The Hong Kong Lab - opening today - includes an incubation space, collaboration hub and usability room for live testing of new applications.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, group executive, institutional banking and markets, Commonwealth Bank says: “Hong Kong’s highly developed financial sector, strong entrepreneurial culture and proximity to China makes it the optimal location for us to establish an innovation presence in Asia. The Hong Kong Lab will allow us to partner with the brightest minds across the city’s accelerator, government, university, start-up and fintech communities to further develop creative and innovative solutions for our clients.”
The facility is modelled on the bank's Innovation Lab in Sydney which in its first 18 months has hosted over 40,000 guests, successfully developed a number of blockchain applications and collaborated with major Australian corporates, government organisations and universities to experiment with future technology.
Visitors to the Sydney lab have included Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, and quantum computing specialist and 1QBit founder Andrew Fursman.
The London arm of the network is expected to open later this year.