​Brazil's first online bank ramps up innovation

Banco Original launched its retail banking operation in 2016 as a wholly digital bank supported by a strong infrastructure platform, during a distributed, high performance atmosphere.

According to the bank's chief info officer (CIO) Wanderley Baccalà, Banco Original's technology portfolio sits on associate degree design supported general interaction and access convenience. This successively provides a plus over ancient banks battling inheritance portfolios.

"We exploit everything that the net can give, particularly the chance to 'be everyplace in the slightest degree times'," the CIO says.

To execute the bank's IT strategy, the CIO leads associate degree in-house team of one hundred fifty folks operating across the design, digital channels and Agile development areas, additionally as new product prototyping and comes to support daily operations.

Evolving open banking

Open banking is at the highest of the IT team's priorities. Original's API platform, a market 1st in Brazil and launched simply over a year agone, has yielded "fantastic" results up to now.

"We invest plenty in our open banking platform as we tend to believe that shoppers can {increasingly|progressively|more associate degreed more} use the bank inside apps within the market and in an integrated thanks to the environments they're in, like Facebook and Instagram," Baccalà points out.

Through its open banking platform, Original developed a Facebook chatbot, additionally as access to customers' balances and bank statements via Facebook and Instagram - conjointly a primary within the Brazilian banking sector.

"We believe that the bank must be wherever the client is, and genus Apis area unit what allows the enlargement of banking across numerous devices and platforms to form people's lives easier," the CIO says.

Enhancing AI and analytics

Other key IT priorities at Original area unit centered on the advance of digital channels supporting monetary product and services.

"We aim to forever consider [new offerings] in associate degree innovative and distinctive manner, so as to form the client expertise easy and effective," the CIO says.

To achieve that goal, Original is "investing heavily" in computing, in line with Baccalà. the concept here is to spice up client service effectiveness and improve user expertise across the bank's channels.

"We have ramped up the employment of robo-advisors for monetary services and can shortly have news on it front," the chief adds.

In addition, the bank is driving variety of comes around knowledge analytics, to alter customers to urge access to product and services in time period. Blockchain is another space Original is "studying intensively."

Lessons to CIOs

Original may be a pure-play on-line bank ,so addressing new ventures is simpler - however Baccalà believes that it's conjointly attainable for established street banks to figure with startups delivering innovative services while not being outpaced by them.

"The very first thing to own in mind is to confirm that associate degree open and technological platform permits different new firms to attach to the bank simply," Baccalà says.

The CIO points out that there area unit opportunities to figure along effectively with fintechs, associate degree example being Original's partnership with digital notecase startup Pic Pay that integrates with its cross-account transfer API.

However, the chief says that the foremost details that those responsible of IT in banking ought to bear in mind once addressing startups area unit to try to to with culture.

"People ought to be able to suppose outside the box, forever place customers 1st be open minded to the digital economy," Baccalà says.

"CIOs even have to be nearer to the business and have a deep information of the atmosphere during which they're concerned - solely then they're going to be able to absolutely use their technical skills," he adds.

"You conjointly ought to sit down with those who suppose otherwise, and for that to happen multidisciplinary groups area unit crucial, with product, channel, commercial, operations and security specialists, additionally because the IT team itself."