Commonwealth Bank today launched a state-of-the-art Innovation Lab in the heart of Sydney’s CBD demonstrating its ongoing commitment to innovation.

Located at Commonwealth Bank Place, the 690 square metre Innovation Lab will act as an idea incubator and accelerator focused on developing cutting-edge products, services and solutions in collaboration with customers, partners, start-ups and industry experts.

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, Group Executive, Institutional Banking and Markets, Commonwealth Bank, said the Innovation Lab will bring teams together in a state-of-the-art facility to work on practical solutions for customers, “Serving customers is at the heart of everything we do – our Innovation Lab is no different. 

“Our customers, partners and start-ups are increasingly asking to work even more closely with us to deliver market-leading services.

“The Lab will allow us to work collaboratively, to quickly incubate ideas and deliver capabilities that will ensure our customers can adapt their business models, seize opportunities and respond to the challenges of a changing landscape,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.

The central location of the Lab, in Commonwealth Bank’s Sydney CBD office, will make it even easier for customers, partners and start-ups to work alongside the organisation in a uniquely collaborative environment.

David Whiteing, Group Executive, Enterprise Services and Chief Information Officer, Commonwealth Bank, said innovation is not simply about technology, it’s about creating a culture inside the organisation where people are committed to finding new ways of helping customers.

“Innovation only works when it is in close proximity with the business and Commonwealth Bank has deliberately ensured our Innovation Lab is not only in the heart of the Sydney CBD, but also the heart of our operations, close to our people and our customers.

“The real value we expect from the Innovation Lab is twofold in being able to explore new ideas and make quicker decisions on which ones will work best for our customers, and being able to scale those ideas across CBA so all customers and employees can take advantage of the innovation,” Mr Whiteing said.

The launch of the Innovation Lab coincides with the roll-out of a program for Commonwealth Bank employees designed to uncover innovation and fresh ideas. The Unleashing Innovation program will allow employees to submit their innovative ideas to panel of senior executives with successful proposals moving into the Innovation Lab for incubation.

Commonwealth Bank’s innovation culture is working – it has recently launched a range of new mobile enhancements to the CommBank app, including Cardless Cash and Lock & Limit, as well as CommBiz Mobileand Daily IQ further delivering a banking experience anywhere and anytime. We continue to innovate with new contactless payments solutions for smartphones including PayTag and NFC. Behind the scenes, we delivered simplified processes and reduced turnaround times on many of our services, delivering a better customer experience.

For more information on the Innovation Lab visit commbank.com.au/innovationlab