South Africa's Standard Bank has opened an innovation centre in Johannesburg in an effort to foster a startup culture.
Dubbed the PlayRoom, the brightly coloured, beanbag-filled site will be used to help develop innovative, technology-driven services.
Vuyo Mpako, head of innovation and channel design, told TechCentral that the centre's environment will help employees to think and act more like entrepreneurs. It will also encourage collaboration with outside companies and customers.
The PlayRoom has already been used to help design and test Standard Bank's new website, which will launch in the next couple of weeks.
“To be really creative you have to think differently. The idea is that this is a fun-filled environment and we want to unearth creativity," says Mpako.