Financial Services Company Labs (Working With External Startups and Scaleups) Many FIs host labs nurturing outside startups. These labs operate around the world and focus on everything from deploying Gen AI to streamlining regulatory and legal processes to deploying stablecoins to speed international transactions. Based in Morocco, Attijariwafa Bank has significant operations in 15 countries in northern and western Africa, along with branches in Europe and Asia. Its innovation department, Wenov, was founded in 2020. Wenov strives to bring innovation to the financial sector. Wenov’s WeLab experiments with emerging technologies. Since its inception, the lab has worked with more than 100 startups, helping them integrate their products into banking use cases. Thus far, more than 130 proofs of concept (PoCs) have been developed in the lab. In 2024, Wenov purchased more than $750,000 of these technologies. Startups nurtured work in the fields of AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, and open banking and payments. In 2025, Wenov is debuting an innovation program geared toward helping Attijariwafa’s African subsidiaries facilitate collaboration with startups on that continent. A dedicated incubator is planned for this program, along with a physical space to test prototype bank solutions. The coworking space will also host debates, workshops, and pitch days. Among the innovations to arise from the lab is the Nucleon Endpoint Detection and Response platform. This platform automates the search for, detection, and remediation of previously unknown cyber threats. Additional developments include a customer-service chatbot and AI-powered analyses of customer-satisfaction surveys. Hosted by DBS Bank, DBS Asia X (DAX) is one of Singapore’s largest innovation centers. DBS employees, startups, and the broader fintech community come together to innovate in DAX’s 16,000-square-foot co-working space, The lab has three aims: to engage with the startup community, to develop and foster a culture of innovation within the bank, and to serve as a customerexperience hub. Currently, lab activities focus on the adoption of cutting-edge technologies in fields such as the metaverse, mixed reality, decentralized finance, and AI. Areas of concentration are determined in part by the lab’s “innovation radar,” a proprietary trend-indexing framework that systematically searches for potentially game-changing innovations. In 2024, innovation radar identified more than 60 trends relevant to banking. The interior of DAX’s 16,000-square-foot co-working space. Working with startups, DAX focuses on exploring disruptive technologies that impact banking. These include fintech, digital banking, and sustainable-finance technologies. The lab also strives to uncover new opportunities that enhance both customer and employee experiences. It further works to develop products that actively contribute to the wider Singaporean and global innovation ecosystems. DAX fosters ties among the tech community. In 2004, it hosted nearly 15,000 visitors across four hackathons and more than 100 community events. Its DAX[AI]ON event last year brought together industry leaders, innovators, and experts to explore the transformative potential of Gen AI in the financial sector. Attending were 18 startups, 31 FIs, and representatives of government regulatory bodies, technology-solutions providers, and consulting and investment firms. In Europe, Alior iLab is a startup accelerator for companies in the finance and insurance sectors that have already developed a minimum viable product. The lab, hosted by Poland’s Alior Bank, consists of five arms: fintech partnerships to accelerate solutions for the bank, user-experience and product research, user-experience design, open-banking development, and digital-process development. The latter category focuses on developing and implementing AI solutions, particularly in the field of customer identification. The lab has thus far worked with more than 60 startups and offers mentoring, access to customers and partners, and the opportunity for startups to test their products in a banking environment. Working with the Envirly ESG-reporting software company, the lab has developed a carbon calculator to help business customers measure and reduce their carbon footprints. As Agata Rybicka, Alior Eco Projects manager, notes, “The European Union has implemented stringent regulations requiring companies to monitor, report, and verify their greenhousegas emissions, creating a pressing need for reliable tools that can help companies accurately measure and manage their emissions. At Alior Bank, we are deeply committed to promoting sustainable development and supporting our clients in their ESG initiatives. By partnering with Envirly, we aim to provide our business clients with an innovative solution that not only helps them comply with EU regulations but also aligns with their sustainability goals.” Rybicka notes that the carbon calculator helps clients measure three essential components of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: direct emissions (greenhouse-gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company), indirect emissions (from electricity, steam, heat, or cooling purchased by the company), and “other indirect emissions” (those that occur in the course of doing business, including emissions from purchased goods and services, waste disposal, and business travel). OTP Bank Innovation Lab was founded by Hungary’s OTP Group in 2017 to futureproof the bank’s technological and business processes, thereby helping the bank maintain its ability to compete. The lab has focused heavily on AI and automation. Lab innovations helped the bank develop and deploy software “robots,” enabling OTP to engage in fast, flexible, customer-centric processes. More than 50 processes have thus far been automated.

More recently, the lab launched its “beyondbanking” initiative, an effort to identify nonfinancial markets that OTP Group could penetrate. To enter these nonbanking industries, the beyond-banking arm of the OTP lab creates new subsidiaries, acquires and integrates existing companies, and works with nonbanking partners. The beyond-banking ecosystem now consists of travel services, online real estate platforms, a health care marketplace, and other businesses. Of particular note is Fizz.hu, a curated online marketplace offering built-in financing options.

In Istanbul, the TEB Faktoring Digital Transformation Program was founded in 2022 as part of TEB Faktoring’s commitment to innovation. It operates as an internal innovation hub within TEB Faktoring, which is a subsidiary of Turkish Economy Bank (TEB) and its partner BNP Paribas. The program focuses on financial technologies, process automation, customer-experience enhancement, and operational efficiency within the factoring industry. While the program is an internal effort, TEB does collaborate with fintechs, startups, and other technology partners for specific programs. These startups benefit from aid in refining their business models and strategies. They also receive access to senior TEB executives, regulatory education, and insight into best practices, to help make products both compliant and commercially viable.

The program prides itself on an initiative that integrates AI-powered analytics into internal credit scoring. That capability has automated 80% of decision-making processes, significantly improving operational efficiency. The initiative has also enhanced customer experience by leading to faster approvals. Managing risk efficiently is critical in the factoring industry.

The program’s AI-driven risk-assessment tool offers customer specific financial products, by providing real-time risk evaluation. This ensures that each client receives a factoring solution best suited to its individual financial profile.

In Latin America, labs work to serve the underbanked.

Bancolombia Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Grupo Bancolombia. It partners primarily with startups in Series A and Series B rounds of investments—those that have already demonstrated strong market traction and a market fit for their products. In addition to financial investments—offered for stakes ranging from 2%-20% in the companies nurtured—Bancolombia offers mentoring for startups in the fields of business-model refinement, regulatory compliance, marketing strategy, operational efficiency, and scaling. The bank also helps startups open doors with potential partners in key markets.

As discussed previously, significant innovations to arise from the bank include new credit-scoring methodologies for microbusinesses developed by the startup Quipu. Working with the Ozone API open banking company, Bancolombia is building the type of open application programming interface (API) infrastructure essential for secure data sharing. This innovation will empower banks to harness shared financial data for enhanced customer insights and personalized services.

In an effort to help BTG Pactual become a destination for tech companies operating in Latin America, boostLAB Powered by BTG Pactual was founded in 2018. This acceleration-andinvestment program is part of the bank’s early-stage venture capital strategy. It focuses on startups between seed and Series A funding stages—those that have achieved product-market fit, built a customer base, and are ready to scale. The lab has accelerated and/or invested in 86 startups since its inception. The four companies nurtured in the 2024 cohort each received an investment of 1 million Brazilian reais (about $177,500 at today’s rate) from BTG Pactual in exchange for a 3% equity stake. BTG Pactual also retains the option to invest an additional R$1 million in the startups’ next funding round, with a 25% discount on the round’s valuation. Among companies nurtured is Intuitive Care, a software-as-a-service platform that automates manual and repetitive processes in hospitals, clinics, and other centers. In automating and optimizing processes for reconciling payments from different health care plans, Intuitive Care can help improve revenue for health care centers.

Banco Bradesco inovabra was launched in 2013. It offers a physical and digital co-innovation environment housing more than 220 startups—with different lab programs connecting to an additional 1,500. A capital vehicle of Bradesco called FIP Inovabra invests between R$20 million and R$75 million for a minority share in the companies nurtured.

Innovations to arise from the lab include a pilot project for the use of stablecoins in international transactions. A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency pegged to a reserve asset such as the euro or US dollar. This is an effort to combine consistent value with the flexibility and speed of digital assets. The pilot program at inovabra, instituted in partnership with the Parafin digital-payment company, will use stablecoins in international transactions, notably for the payment of imports. Also on tap is the bank’s first crypto-asset investment vehicle, a capability offered through a partnership with the Hashdex crypto-asset management firm.

Innovations continue in the Middle East.

Headquartered in Amman, Jordan, Arab Bank now has more than 600 branches in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Its AB Xelerate innovation and venture capital arm has, since 2018, completed more than 30 PoCs designed to improve banking operations and the overall experience of Arab Bank customers. In 2024 alone, AB Xelerate nurtured seven successful PoCs. These focused on deploying Gen AI to streamline legal processes, provide virtual financial assistance to customers, and perform other tasks. A co-creation space is offered in the Arab Bank Innovation Hub.

AB Xelerate has also invested in 10 startups. These operate in the fintech, embedded finance, cybersecurity, and banking-as-aservice arenas. Working with the Riyadh-based Intella company, for example, the bank is implementing a program to transcribe all customer calls into Arabic text. This capability makes it easier for Arab Bank to obtain customer insight. Working with a US cybersecurity company, the bank is enhancing its cybersecurity capabilities with zero-day threat detection.

AI Xelerate, an associated bootcamp, extends the bank’s reach to additional startups. In the bootcamp’s latest incarnation, it nurtured eight teams (from more than 100 startups that applied) for mentorship, workshops, networking, and the opportunity to pitch ideas to investors.

An Arab Bank internal innovation center, Acabes for Financial Technology, is dedicated to the continuous upgrading and enhancement of the bank’s digital offerings. Acabes is also focused on building new end-to-end technology platforms to digitalize and optimize Arab Bank’s internal processes and customer-facing experiences.

The Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures Lab is an intensive five-month accelerator designed to scale tech startups. It launched in 2017 in the United States and expanded in 2021 to include startup founders in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The lab promotes financial inclusion and provides founders with much-needed access to investors—along with the tools, resources, and connections needed to grow. The lab builds on the success of two other Morgan Stanley offerings—the Inclusive Ventures Lab and the Sustainable Solutions Collaborative—that together distributed more than $30 million in capital to more than 100 companies over the course of eight years.

Through the lab, Morgan Stanley offers early-stage, highgrowth companies mentorship, networking opportunities, office space and access to external advisers. Lab curriculum covers topics such as branding, pitch development, value-proposition refinement, and devising effective finance and sales strategies. Capital investment is either $250,000 or £250,000 (about $332,000) in each company nurtured, depending on the region in which it operates: $250,000 in the Americas. In exchange, Morgan Stanley takes a 5% stake.

The lab culminates in a demo day, during which participants pitch their companies to potential investors. These include venture capitalists, angel investors, and private equity firms. Recent companies nurtured include Research Grid, which has produced an automation engine to streamline administration of clinical medical trials; DotLab, which develops AI and machinelearning technologies geared toward improving health outcomes for women, notably in the field of diagnosing endometriosis; and Fluix, whose CoPilot AI software reduces energy costs for facilities by integrating and optimizing systems.

In 2024, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities launched the Japan Inclusive Ventures Lab, a startup acceleration program in that country. It graduated its first cohort in February of this year.

Now in its 12th year, TD Lab of TD Bank Group studies market and technology trends to identify potential solutions for TD Bank lines of business. The lab works to build functional prototypes for TD Bank, to grow TD intellectual property, and to influence product-development road maps.

As part of this work, the lab proposes, prioritizes, and builds new solutions to address core customer problems. It also monitors and tests emerging technologies to determine practical use cases for the bank. Working with TD’s External Ecosystems team, TD Lab monitors startups and entrepreneurs for their potential to deliver unique technologies or bring strategic value to TD. Selected startups may pitch directly to TD executives, explaining how the startup’s offerings can help meet bank challenges. Through partnerships with the External Ecosystems team, startups engaged through TD Lab may ultimately receive funding from or partnership with TD Bank.

Other significant External Labs include: Akbank LAB, Alior Bank/RBL_Start, Alios Cooperative, Barclays Eagle Labs, BNY Enterprise Innovation Group, BofA Breakthrough Lab, Citi Innovation Labs, Deutsche Bank Innovation Center, EFG EV Fintech, Elevator Lab Powered by Raiffeisen Bank International, ING Labs, Up2Stars/Intesa Sanpaolo, Visa Global Innovation Center, x15 Ventures/Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Yapi Kredi FRWRD.

Financial Services Company Labs (Internal)

At some FIs, innovation is germinated by staff.

Formally established in 2018, the CTBC Data & AI R&D Center in Taiwan now employs more than 200 people. Process optimization, improved customer service, automated risk management, automated fraud detection, and improved regulatory compliance are all areas of focus.

Most recently, the center has been investing its resources in Gen AI. It believes Gen AI can enhance operations, boost productivity, and redefine the customer experience. The bank plans to first deploy its Gen AI capabilities to optimize business operations and employee training. Eventually, these AI systems will provide bank employees with the type of market insights that can improve customer service. In back-office management, the bank will use AI to strengthen cybersecurity and fraud prevention.

Perhaps most important to CTBC, though, is the use of AI in compliance management. CTBC Bank says its AI technologies enable rapid data analysis, proactive risk detection, and real-time alerts to ensure regulatory compliance. By leveraging machine learning, the bank can now detect anomalous activities, trigger automatic alerts, and reduce manual compliance reviews by 25%.

China Zheshang Bank (CZBank) is a commercial bank based in Hangzhou. CZBank’s Network Security Innovation Laboratory, established in 2014, focuses on technological developments in network defense, data security, and other fields. Network security projects include building upon existing network protections to analyze evolving requirements, determine security-device capabilities, and clarify operational workflows. New projects establish a system for using situational awareness and other techniques to devise rapid warning, response, and threat-disposal capabilities. Data protection is also a concern, which the bank is addressing through the establishment of a holistic data-protection framework that uses a “zerotrust” approach to data access and control. Zero-trust protocols assume that no user or device should ever be automatically granted access to bank data. CZBank’s framework combines this protocol with continuous identity verification and other technological capabilities to provide comprehensive, dynamic, and flexible data protection and management.

Other Internal Labs of note include: ABC Labs/Bank ABC, BBVA AI Factory, Capital One Lab, CIB Innovation Group, Customer Experience LABs/CaixaBank, Fidelity Center for Applied Technology/Fidelity Labs, Goldman Sachs/GS Accelerate, Mastercard Labs as a Service, Moody’s, National Bank of Kuwait Group Digital Office, PayPal Innovation Labs, and SEB Embedded (SEB Group).

Independent Fintech Labs

Some innovation centers are unaligned with banks, VC firms, or economic development organizations. Among these are Accenture’s Fintech Innovation Labs. This program operates around the globe and helps fintechs scale their businesses in competitive markets. Thus far, the lab has nurtured nearly 400 startups and helped raise more than $6.5 billion in capital. In Boston, Mass Challenge is a 501(c) accelerator. Its program offers early-stage startups mentorship, training, office space, legal advice, and access to funding.

Additional significant Independent Labs include: Beta-I, TechQuartier, and Tenity.

Venture Capital Fintech Labs

Understanding the monetary value of innovation, many venture capital firms and consultancies host their own fintech labs.

Hosting fintech labs provides VC firms access to promising, early-stage companies before those companies are widely known—providing lab hosts with a competitive investment edge. Accelerator Frankfurt nurtures business-to-business software startups focusing on financial, regulatory, and insurance technology, as well as other topics. Benefits received by these startups include more than 200 hours of mentoring in taxation, user experience, strategic planning, and other fields. Notable VC labs also include Startup Bootcamp. Operating in more than 20 countries, this accelerator has thus far nurtured more than 1,600 startups, helping them to achieve an average funding of about €1.7 million (about $1.9 million). Current programs focus on technology that addresses extraordinarily complex challenges—for example, extraterrestrial mining and gene editing. Additional programs nurture companies operating in the climate change and the health- and life-sciences fields.

Additional notable Venture Capital Labs include: Deloitte Catalyst, Plug and Play, Startup Wise Guys, Synechron, and Y Combinator.

Economic and Social Development Fintech Labs

Some fintech innovation labs work to improve economic and social conditions for vulnerable populations.

One example is the Asobancaria Social Innovation Lab. After Colombia’s social unrest of 2021, the Banking and Financial Associations of Colombia (Asobancaria) began to identify ways to better serve the banking needs of diverse populations, groups, and territories. The lab is part of this effort. Its projects target women, the elderly, youth, rural populations, ethnic groups, migrants, disabled persons, LGBTQ+ populations, and particular segments included in the peace-building process. The latter category includes both victims of armed conflict and former perpetrators trying to reintegrate into society.

Recent work has included financial-inclusion studies for LGBTQ+ and migrant populations. The studies examine market segmentation among these populations. The hope is that by using the findings of these studies, FIs can better tailor their products to meet specific needs of different subsets of these communities. The migrant study focused on those immigrating to Colombia from Venezuela. It examined how banks can improve their customer-service strategy for immigrants, reducing the barriers to financial services sometimes faced by this population.

WLab is the digital innovation lab of Colombia’s Banco W microfinance bank. Established in 2023, the lab’s mission is to design and implement digital solutions for microentrepreneurs and the underserved communities to which they cater. Its goals are threefold: to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation, to create an agile environment for experimentation and development of customer-focused capabilities, and to address the growing need for digital financial products meaningful to microentrepreneurs.

According to Juliana Jaramillo, Banco W innovation manager, microentrepreneurs in Colombia include everyone from vendors selling potato chips from street carts to owners of hair salons that may start with one chair but grow over time. The Covid-19 pandemic pushed this segment of the population to adopt digital capabilities, but tailoring bank offerings to meet these businesses’ specific needs can be challenging. “You have to take into consideration these microentrepreneurs’ level of education, the fact that their cell phones may not have the best connectivity, that their screens may be cracked,” Jaramillo says.

Offerings for these and other challenges faced by microentrepreneurs are developed at WLab’s physical workspace on the campus of Universidad Icesi in Cali. WLab is the only fintech innovation lab in Colombia directly connected to a university, and this partnership provides opportunities for collaboration with professors and students to develop solutions. For example, Jaramillo says that the lab worked with university professors to write copy for its digital products that would be understandable to people who find reading difficult.

WLab startups receive access to multidisciplinary expertise and opportunities for real-world testing. The lab’s startups include Truora, a company that simplifies and automates background checks, digital identity verification, and other processes; Powwi, which provides digital payments to enable secure transactions and improved financial management; and Quash, which deploys AI to help optimize business processes.

Innovations currently arising from the lab, or now being tested, include Billetera W, a digital wallet designed to offer microentrepreneurs and their customers secure, user-friendly, and accessible payment methods. To date, it has engaged roughly 78,250 users and has processed more than 2 million transactions.

Gotahorro Digital is another innovation. This microcredit product is designed to digitally provide Colombian microentrepreneurs with responsible financing options. Rather than using traditional research methods to verify business information—typically entailing a visit to the business from a bank representative—WLab now uses AI to scrape the web for information that supports business owners’ claims. This represents an evolution from initial Gotahorro processes. At first, applicants were asked to submit photos or videos of their businesses. However, the lab found that too many microentrepreneurs couldn’t take videos with their cell phone. Hence the move to AI-powered examination of alternative data.

Finally, in addition to WLab’s work with the university, it boasts a robust network of strategic partners and mentors Juliana Jarmillo Valencia, WLab innovation manager. dedicated to fostering innovation and growth among startups in the financial sector. Key partners include Fundacion WWB Colombia and Fundacion Grupo Social.

An initiative of the Brazilian Development Association, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission, the Brazilian Financial Innovation Lab (LAB) promotes cooperation and publicprivate dialogue between diverse actors to stimulate financial innovation and sustainable finance in Brazil. It also has a fintech working group. Its 1,408 individual and 372 institutional members represent FIs, government ministries, financial-market regulators, insurance and capital markets, public and private companies, fintechs, NGOs, and academic institutions. Most of its work takes place online.

The fintech working group specializes in promoting open innovation projects in fields such as crypto assets. It also studies ways to use data to identify and solve ESG challenges. Additional fields of study include green finance, social impact investment, and fintech innovation.

While acting primarily as a think tank, the lab does produce tangible projects. For example, in 2024 it compiled a pitch book consisting of technological offerings to meet ESG challenges. All offerings were submitted by startups. In 2025, the lab’s fintech working group is planning to advance initiatives related to AI and its use in sustainable-development projects.

Future plans include the establishment of a physical experimental environment to include a testing and learning hub. Development of a regulatory sandbox is also planned. Both initiatives will be coordinated by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission.

The European Investment Bank Group (EIB) is the world’s largest multilateral financial institution. It is owned by the 27 EU member nations. Its mission is to close gaps in innovation goals and skills as identified by EU policymakers. To do so, EIB partners with startups that use technology to cure the world’s ills. The Blue Champions Advisory Programme is a collaboration with the European Commission to support development of innovative technologies to restore oceans and other waters. Seventy companies applied for the program. Twenty were chosen in 2024, offering advanced technologies in fields such as decarbonization, electric vessels, underwater connectivity and transport, tidal energy products, and underwater robotics. Businesses nurtured—hailing from Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden—received training on investment pitches, market-commercialization strategies, and other topics, along with introductions to investors.