RABOBANK electrified world . In energy security , our knowledge is younger than it is in agri-food , but we can still have a major impact and we know we already have a strong position .
“ That ’ s why we have chosen those two – agri-food and energy – as the main transitions to bank on for the future . We know that , if we do a good job with our clients in those two areas , we will also do a good job for the planet .”
How is Rabobank fostering a culture of innovation ? Leurs joined the business in October 2016 , and since then , he knows that there have been improvements . Even from the beginning , Rabobank has always been an innovative organisation : it was the first bank to offer internet banking and ATM withdrawals to its clients in the Netherlands ; and it pioneered a payments system called iDEAL , which has become instrumental to transactions , taking less than a decade after
“Our Innovation Factory is the machine that creates the unicorns !”
BART LEURS CHIEF INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY OFFICER , RABOBANK
launch to capture 50 % of online payments made in the country . But it hasn ’ t always got everything right .
“ We have made lots of mistakes and had quite a lot of setbacks ,” Leurs freely admits , “ but we have tried to learn from every single one of them .
“ When I joined Rabobank , it already had a strong history of innovations . But my perception coming into the bank was that innovation was very disorganised . We were doing lots of different things in different places , and it was very tech-driven . Innovation was part of our IT department , and there was no structured way of bringing innovation to fruition . In that respect , we moved from being an organisation of inventors – people who create technical solutions without much coordination – to being an organisation that has a mature innovation governance with seasoned innovation professionals .
Leurs says that , in those days , innovation within Rabobank lacked direction . “ We collaborated with tech startups and tried a bunch of different things just to generate power and enthusiasm . However , we learned that you can only be successful and impactful on innovation when it ’ s
fintechmagazine . com 39