Designing innovation

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have energized process digitization in all business areas. In Bank Pekao, the unit responsible for creating a culture of innovation, accelerating the implementation of innovative solutions and cooperating with fintechs, startups and technology companies is the Innovation Lab. In its activities, the Laboratory focuses especially on innovations that allow building modern banking and adjusting products and services to customers’ expectations. The Innovation Laboratory uses both market and non-industry practices, as well as research on trends, crowdsourced ideas and technologies provided by young companies.

In 2021, Bank Pekao was looking for a solution provider that, based on artificial intelligence, would analyse customer comments in the bank’s mobile application on Google Play and the App Store. Twenty-four startups and technology companies responded to the open call announced by the Innovation Lab. Two projects focusing on the most effective use of customer feedback analysis in terms of user experience and development of the Bank’s offer qualified for the pilot (the so-called Proof of Concept).

In 2021, Pekao Bank together with Huge Tech launched a call for startups and technology companies to join the Idea Global accelerator. The winning project was a grant from the ScaleUp programme of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development to carry out – in cooperation with the Bank – a pilot of submitted projects that will accelerate the process of digital transformation of the Bank. The result of participation in the programme was the acceleration of four startups.

One of the Bank’s biggest achievements in the area of innovation in 2021 was the implementation of a process where ideas solutions are inspired by trends and based on thinking about how the future of banking will evolve. The Innovation Lab has established a team to study trends and signals of change. The research results were analysed during workshops with representatives of all business areas of the bank. The ultimate goal of the project is to build competitive advantage in areas that are not obvious in the financial sector, e.g. by creating new business models or customer segments, also in the ESG sector.

The intensive development of Bank Pekao is possible, among others, thanks to its current and future employees, which is why the bank focuses, on the one hand, on improving the qualifications of its employees, and on the other, on recruiting staff that are just entering the labour market. This is achieved through cooperation with leading universities in the country, which also aims to exchange experiences between business practitioners and representatives of the world of science. Bank Pekao has been committed to the academic community for years, taking part, among others, in many initiatives organized by student councils and universities, and implementing about 500 different projects addressed to students every year.

The most important events in 2021 were:

• signing an agreement to link Bank Pekao and the University of Warsaw with a strategic agreement, which includes the strengthening of the existing cooperation, implementation of joint projects, exchange of knowledge and experience. In addition, the Bank made donations to the university to retrofit educational classrooms,
• a partnership in the Warsaw School of Economics competition for the best Master’s thesis together with funding the main prize for the winner,
• conclusion of an agreement between Bank Pekao and the Rzeszów University of Technology, whereby the Bank will support the university’s student government in the organization of cultural events.