Latest news with #DaveMcKay
Forbes
28-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tech Transformation In Banking: From A One Time Event To A Way Of Life
I recently spoke with Bruce Ross, Group Head, Technology & Operations at RBC, about technology ... More transformation and how it's impacting the bank's strategy. Most banks today still rely on a hodgepodge of outdated technology that's upwards of 40 to 50 years old. Efforts to modernize a bank's core can be challenging but are necessary to take advantage of emerging technology and capitalize on the AI opportunities that exist today. The question that every bank struggles with is how do you solve the simultaneous equation of driving the business, modernizing the core and building the talent base of the future. I recently spoke with Bruce Ross, Group Head, Technology & Operations at RBC, about what they have done to solve this equation. RBC is widely recognized as a technology leader in the banking space, including AI, with the bank ranked in the top three for the third straight year for AI maturity in the Evident AI Index (and ranked #1 among Canadian banks). Here's a portion of our discussion: How did RBC become the technology leader that it is today? When we started off, our technology was okay, but it wasn't differentiating. And one of the reasons I got excited about joining RBC was that our CEO Dave McKay believed that technology and building the digitally enabled relationship bank was going to be essential to the organization's future. We followed three fundamental principles: 1. We're here to deliver a differentiated client experience for RBC clients and also our internal partners and our people. 2. Transformation is not a one-time event, but a way of life. As an organization, we needed to get used to a different velocity in terms of adopting new technologies, being curious about their capabilities, testing them, and then deploying them to actually accelerate the business. And 3. We're a people business and we're only as good as the team we can put on the field. We needed to change the skill set of our people and become what I call a technology company with a bank sign on the front door. We keep pushing ourselves – why set a goal where you can jump the curb, which most anybody can do, when you can try to jump a 30-story building instead. We talked about creating an engineering culture with a focus on curiosity, trying new things and establishing goals that are extraordinarily difficult to achieve. We were early on AI when we established our Borealis Research Institute in 2016. We started with a few AI scientists and PhDs and today and we have more than 100 PhD scientists and professors, and over 850 world-class AI developers and data engineers and 20% of the 1,000 patents we have filed since 2019 have been AI patents. Our early investment also means we have spent time investing heavily in ensuring we are developing our AI tools and platforms safely. Our Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) Principles sit at the centre ensuring we have high standards of accountability, fairness, privacy and security, and transparency in all our AI endeavours. I think what sets the leaders and laggards apart in banking technology is a culture of curiosity tempered with execution and client-focused innovation It really comes down to focusing. We are a big organization, with over 10,000 people working in technology every day. How do you take the business goals, translate that into a technology strategy and then ensure that you present it clearly and succinctly enough so that over 10,000 people get up in the morning and can connect what they do directly to one of those strategic business outcomes. That's my job. For us in 2024, it was executing our acquisition of HSBC Bank Canada. I'm glad you mentioned that acquisition. That was one of the most aggressive and amazing things that occurred in terms of bank mergers, knowing that you did a close-and-convert on the same day! I'd love to know your thoughts on the role technology played in that. Well, it really started with commitment at the top to establish a culture of execution across a single team within the bank. There was a major technology component to it, a huge business and operations effort, and a significant control functions element. Pulling the teams together as a single organization was essential to our success. We had to seamlessly close and convert over a single weekend and the scale of it was enormous, with almost 800,000 clients, including over 2 million accounts and products migrated, across various business segments from HSBC Bank Canada joining RBC. It's not something you get ready for in a single day, it's what you get ready for in the years in advance. We were able to execute this task seamlessly because we had already invested in a core technology platform that was scalable at a demand deposit account level, at a mobile user interface level, and everything in between, from networks to physical infrastructure to applications. We had 4,000 people across five businesses and 17 sub-businesses underneath organized to achieve everything at a single moment. We had to do a thorough evaluation of the customers at HSBC Bank Canada. We mapped HSBC products and services to our own and invested in substantial digital capabilities to ensure we delivered capabilities that met their unique needs. We focused on their client experience. How do we preserve as much of that as possible so that when you get on that RBC mobile app the first time, it remembers who you are, including your accounts and payees. We loaded all the HSBC Bank Canada customers' experiences and customizations into the RBC mobile app. We also had that level of detail with the branch conversions. We switched the branch systems and branding on the same weekend and trained the branch staff so that when you walked into the branch, while the colors were different, it was the same person that the customer knew and loved. 4,000 of HSBC Bank Canada's employees were onboarded and joined RBC that weekend and we went to great lengths to ensure they felt like part of the team on day one. So it was really about culture, client focus, ensuring the new employees were in a great space and lastly, practice. Practice makes perfect. We had several dress rehearsals and built a run book with almost 13,000 line items where every single step in the process was choreographed down to the minute. I felt very comfortable after the first 4 or 5 hours of the conversion weekend that everything was going to go well because we had 100% data mapping accuracy. And the last thing is that we took some risks. We were a little concerned about the capacity the call center would have on Monday morning with all the new clients following the convert. So, in addition to other levers, we applied a range of AI and genAI technology to optimize workload and manage capacity – from real-time advisor scheduling, to call summarization and integrated capacity through asynchronous messaging. It worked seamlessly and we were able to deliver exceptional service levels through a significant conversion. You were one of the earliest adopters of AI in the banking industry with Borealis. How do you see AI playing out in banking? First of all, we believe that AI is so transformative that you need to not only understand it but also to have the capability to deploy it and a collective ambition between the business and technology to leverage it. It's really data and the accessibility of that data that fuels everything. Without the data and the data collection capability and the data insight on your clients, it won't matter what AI technology you have. For us, ensuring that our data is in virtually one place, that it's accessible, and that we can manage that platform of data was something that we had to do. And that's why we built a data platform called Lumina. Some of our data will sit in the public cloud, but the vast majority of it actually sits in our own on-premise cloud, and we need to be able to do both based on the type of workload. Lumina helps manage that. We're proud we were an early adopter and could see the value of what this capability is going to bring to the RBC client, to the RBC investor, to our business as a whole, that we could then make those bets. AI is not only going to provide efficiency and lower cost, but also increased revenue value at the top end. We don't see this as something that only drives efficiency, it's going to drive business value as well. What qualities do you look for in tech leaders, and how do you support their development? It starts with organizational ambition. I say to our team that we're all going to Hawaii. That's our aspirational destination and I paint the picture of how it will feel and what we can deliver when we arrive. But I don't tell them how we are going to get there or what to do when there are snags. So that's the joy of the journey. Hawaii in this instance is the digitally enabled relationship bank, with eight million active clients on our mobile app and a development manufacturing engine that will be 20% faster than the best in class. It's about giving your people the freedom to be ambitious, but also creating an environment where they can innovate and fail fast. Sometimes you have to throw people into the proverbial deep end. They might go underwater for a minute, but then they'll pop up because we have given them the right development and strategy to succeed. The best tech leaders are those who are given tough challenges, rewarded for their success, and provided with clear career paths. We believe in a merit-based organization where career advancement is based on capability and delivery, not just the number of people reporting to them. We also encourage leaders to take calculated risks, which can pay off in the long run. We have also introduced programs similar to what you would see at a big tech company. We recently introduced market-competitive roles and titles for our technical SMEs, the most senior being RBC Fellows. We also have a Distinguished Engineer designation that is peer-assessed and awarded based on technical achievements. Those are completely different profiles than you would normally see in a bank and it helps our technologists equate what they do at RBC to what they would do in Google or AWS and so on. Looking ahead, what technologies are you most excited about, and how do you see them impacting RBC? I think quantum computing is still an untapped opportunity for us, and I think that will change the game. I still think there's a long way to go in NLP and what NLP can provide, as well as computer vision, particularly in fields like healthcare. These technologies are seen as key drivers of future innovation and value for RBC. We are already exploring how they can enhance our services and create new opportunities for our clients. Lastly, what else is critical to remember as you advance RBC's technology strategy and transformation? Innovation matters, but it all starts with what a bank is there for: to provide a trusted relationship for our clients so that every day they can execute more than one billion events safely and soundly, and a bank that our investors can invest in. We don't have permission to take critical systems down. Clients should expect banking services in the same way they expect running water coming out of their taps and so we have to provide that and work within the regulatory guardrails that have been set up for us. If a bank is going to be successful in the future, it's because we have to be truly essential to the livelihood and progression of individuals and families throughout the course of their lifetimes, being there for them when times are good, but also when times are bad.
Cision Canada
20-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
RBC deepens its commitment to advancing reconciliation and human rights with the launch of its inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan Français
The bank thanks 400+ First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, employees and business owners who shared their insights to help inform RBC's Reconciliation Action Plan and journey forward TORONTO, June 20, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) published its Reconciliation Action Plan: Pathways to Economic Prosperity – a strategic framework outlining the bank's measurable, long-term commitment towards reconciliation and plans to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action 92 1 for Corporate Canada. Building on RBC's longstanding history 2 of working with Indigenous communities across Canada, the plan prioritizes the organization's actions and investments across five key pathways – Economy, People, Community, Environment and Leadership – to help drive inclusive economic growth, create positive social change and advance reconciliation. "At RBC, we believe that long-term Indigenous prosperity is at the heart of a growing economy and thriving society for Canada," said Dave McKay, President & CEO, RBC. "Helping advance reconciliation efforts by collaborating with Indigenous peoples, unlocking more opportunities for Indigenous participation, and creating greater access to capital will be critical to boosting Canada's long-term competitiveness. Our bank is deeply committed to doing more and working with Indigenous communities across Canada to help deliver on this ambition." Building upon the foundational progress RBC has made over the last several decades, the bank re-imagined the mandate of its Indigenous Banking team and leadership to transform its approach to Indigenous collaboration. Last year, RBC appointed Chinyere Eni, a commercial banking executive, a member of Little Pine First Nation (Cree) and a second-generation Nigerian (Igbo) to help shape RBC's Indigenous strategy for the future. In May 2024, RBC Origins was launched, along with a new Truth and Reconciliation Office led by Brittanee Laverdure, a member of Liard First Nation (Kaska Dena). The team grew with net new leadership mandates covering Transaction Advisory Services, Human Rights, Regional Banking, Strategy and Portfolio Initiatives. Today, these mandates are led by team members who bring decades of collective experience working directly with Indigenous communities. In collaboration with Phil Fontaine, Special Advisor to RBC and former three-term National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, RBC Origins aims to bring to life one of the guiding principles of RBC's Purpose Framework – Ideas for People and Planet™ of advancing human rights and reconciliation. The bank is committed to doing so by strengthening the intersection of its work holistically across RBC's Indigenous banking, sustainability, and human rights strategies. RBC has also evolved its strategy and community engagement model to build trust-based relationships and amplify Indigenous voices to help steward the next chapter of the bank's reconciliation journey. Chinyere Eni, Head, RBC Origins notes: "Many of the 1.8 million Indigenous Peoples in Canada 3 continue to live at the periphery of economic well-being. Creating meaningful change that will last for generations requires a focus on scalable systemic approaches to Nation-to-Nation building, enhancing Indigenous access to capital, fostering financial and community well-being, and creating opportunities to empower the next generation of Indigenous talent, entrepreneurship, sustainable development and innovation." The reconciliation journey requires deliberate and sustained efforts toward responsible and respectful practices. As such, RBC's Reconciliation Action Plan serves as the foundation for effective implementation, continuous measurement and monitoring, and transparency. "Developing this plan has been a meaningful journey unto itself. There's been a tremendous mobilization of leadership, talent and engagement within RBC and the process has served as an important catalyst to transform the way the bank intends to engage with Indigenous communities going forward," Fontaine adds. To help ensure that an effective methodology was in place to generate candid feedback, RBC Origins collaborated with lead agency, BOOM InterTribal, an Indigenous-owned and -led strategic and creative partner. BOOM engaged Archipel Research & Consulting to solicit insights and ideas from more than 400 Inuit, First Nations and Métis communities, employees and business owners across Canada. These insights helped inform the bank's strategic priorities and investments across five pathways: Economy: To contribute to the prosperity of Inuit, First Nations, and Métis communities through tailored advice, programs and financial solutions aligning to The RBC ® Inclusive Opportunities Blueprint. People: To be an employer of choice for Métis, First Nations and Inuit talent and to foster a supportive environment across Canada to help shape the future of RBC. Community: To promote the well-being and economic growth of Inuit, Métis and First Nations communities by supporting the areas of greatest needs impacting Indigenous communities. Environment: To advance environmental stewardship efforts and sustainable practices aligned with the RBC ® Climate Blueprint. Leadership: To advance reconciliation through greater leadership, governance, transparency and accountability across RBC's Canadian operations. Launching on the eve of National Indigenous Peoples Day and the summer solstice, the Reconciliation Action Plan is guided by the theme of 'Celestial Cycles'–a creative concept by BOOM InterTribal to reflect the cycles long used by Indigenous Peoples to navigate movement and decision-making. The concept mirrors RBC's own journey of reflection, continuous learning and evolution, guided by its Purpose. Emily Kewageshig, an Anishinaabe artist and storyteller from Saugeen First Nation No. 29 visually brought this to life in a way that honours the past while inspiring the future throughout the report. RBC's Reconciliation Action Plan will be reviewed in 2027 to evaluate the bank's progress, with subsequent biennial updates. RBC looks forward to continued progress and anticipates announcing an update later this summer related to the Economy pathway of its Reconciliation Action Plan. To learn more about RBC Origins and RBC's Reconciliation Action Plan, visit Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation, with respect to RBC's Reconciliation Action Plan. For cautionary statements relating to the information in this press release, refer to the "Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" section in RBC's Reconciliation Action Plan. About RBC Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 97,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our more than 19 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at ® Registered Trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. For media inquiries, contact: Lara Banlaoi, RBC Corporate Communications
Mint
02-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
RBC Misses Estimates as Bank Prepares for Bad Loans
(Bloomberg) -- Royal Bank of Canada missed estimates after setting aside more money than expected to cover possible loan losses amid a faltering economy even as income rose across most business lines. Canada's No. 1 lender earned C$3.12 per share on an adjusted basis in its fiscal second quarter, according to a statement Thursday, falling short of the C$3.18 average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Provisions for credit losses totaled C$1.42 billion ($1.03 billion) for the three months through April, more than the C$1.26 billion analysts had forecast. As the Canadian economy weakens in the face of US tariff uncertainty, the country's big banks are preparing by putting aside more money for loans that are still in good standing. Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce which have reported results over the past week, all increased their provisions for performing loans compared with the first quarter. Royal Bank's provisions for performing loans totaled C$568 million in the second quarter, up from C$68 million in the first three months of the fiscal year. Provisions for impaired loans declined to C$852 million from C$985 million in the first quarter. 'In a quarter hallmarked by macroeconomic uncertainty and market volatility, Team RBC continued to step up for our clients with the advice, insights and experiences they expect from us,' Chief Executive Officer Dave McKay said in the statement. Royal Bank, the last of the country's large lenders to report quarterly results, acquired HSBC Holdings Plc's Canadian assets in early 2024, and that's expected to generate about C$740 million in annual cost savings by early next year. The combination of the two firms is also forecast to produce about C$300 million in revenue synergies by 2027, Royal Bank said at an investor day in March. The lender didn't unveil any major changes in strategy at that time, saying it would keep pursuing growth in Canada, look to expand fee-based revenue from its capital-markets and wealth-management businesses, and keep investing in technology, including artificial intelligence. (Corrects estimate figure in second paragraph.) More stories like this are available on
Mint
29-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
RBC Earnings Miss Estimates as Bank Prepares for Souring Loans
(Bloomberg) -- Royal Bank of Canada missed estimates after setting aside more money than expected to cover possible loan losses amid a faltering economy even as income rose across most business lines. Canada's No. 1 lender earned C$3.12 per share on an adjusted basis in its fiscal second quarter, according to a statement Thursday, falling short of the C$3.20 average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Provisions for credit losses totaled C$1.42 billion ($1.03 billion) for the three months through April, more than the C$1.26 billion analysts had forecast. As the Canadian economy weakens in the face of US tariff uncertainty, the country's big banks are preparing by putting aside more money for loans that are still in good standing. Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce which have reported results over the past week, all increased their provisions for performing loans compared with the first quarter. Royal Bank's provisions for performing loans totaled C$568 million in the second quarter, up from C$68 million in the first three months of the fiscal year. Provisions for impaired loans declined to C$852 million from C$985 million in the first quarter. 'In a quarter hallmarked by macroeconomic uncertainty and market volatility, Team RBC continued to step up for our clients with the advice, insights and experiences they expect from us,' Chief Executive Officer Dave McKay said in the statement. Royal Bank, the last of the country's large lenders to report quarterly results, acquired HSBC Holdings Plc's Canadian assets in early 2024, and that's expected to generate about C$740 million in annual cost savings by early next year. The combination of the two firms is also forecast to produce about C$300 million in revenue synergies by 2027, Royal Bank said at an investor day in March. The lender didn't unveil any major changes in strategy at that time, saying it would keep pursuing growth in Canada, look to expand fee-based revenue from its capital-markets and wealth-management businesses, and keep investing in technology, including artificial intelligence. More stories like this are available on
CTV News
29-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
RBC's profit jumps on HSBC deal, wealth management boost
Royal Bank of Canada signage is pictured in the financial district in Toronto, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Lahodynskyj Royal Bank of Canada reported a jump in second-quarter profit on Thursday, as the country's biggest bank benefited from the acquisition of HSBC's domestic business and strength in its wealth management business. The $13.5 billion acquisition of HSBC Canada, the largest deal in RBC's history, has tightened the bank's grip at home and positioned it for more growth and scale. The inclusion of HSBC's Canadian operations boosted RBC's net income by $258 million. 'We saw the strength of our diversified business model reflected across our largest segments in Q2, underpinned by our robust capital position, balance sheet strength and prudent, through-the-cycle approach to risk management,' said CEO Dave McKay. Canadian banks such as Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal are also shoring up loan loss reserves as they prepare for the economic impact of U.S. tariffs and the global trade war. The changing economic outlook is expected to fan caution among consumers, leading to loan growth pressures and higher credit losses. RBC's provision for credit losses jumped to $1.42 billion in the reported quarter, from $920 million a year earlier. In its wealth management unit, profit jumped 11 per cent on the back of higher fee-based client assets. The bank posted adjusted profit of $4.53 billion, or $3.12 per share, in the three months ended April 30, compared with $4.2 billion, or $2.92 per share, a year earlier. Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Reuters
