DBS Bank is planning to set up an innovation lab in Hyderabad, according to the bank’s group technology and operations COO Paul Cobban. He said to a newspaper that the bank is looking to hire about 2000 engineers over the next 18 months who would be located in India and work in tandem with a yet-to-open innovation lab in Singapore. In April, the bank has also announced an technology centre, that too out of Hyderabad. With the innovation lab, the bank is looking to explore new applications based on emerging technologies like augmented reality, big data analytics, internet of things, artificial intelligence and machine learning among others. Traditionally the bank outsources IT capabilities. But now that the nature of banking is becoming increasingly digital, the bank needs to own and attract best engineering talent, he said. He added DBS’ competition is directly with companies like Paytm and Mobikwik. The banking is at cusp of disruption and DBS wants to move as fast as it can to compete with these guys, Cobban said. According to him, India has become an important market for the bank with its home market reaching saturation. Singapore has about 4 million bankable customers, and this number is not growing. In order to grow, India has become a very important market for DBS, he said.
