TD Bank launched new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, announced an acquisition and leveraged its Next Evolution of Work (NEW) operating model in its third quarter.

The Toronto-based bank increased its technology and equipment spend 12% year over year to $360 million, according to the bank’s Q3 earnings supplement. The increase in tech spend also contributed to the bank’s non-interest expense growth which increased 8% YoY to $4.7 billion.

“We’re seeing good opportunities to invest in technology,” Chief Financial Officer Kelvin Tran said Thursday during the bank’s earnings call.

The $1.4 trillion bank launched a new AI-based phone system in Q3 that identifies clients and matches them with the right advisor in order to improve customer service, Raymond Chun, group head of wealth and insurance, said during the call.

Similarly, the bank is introducing a new platform of omnichannel capabilities that will help customers start processes online but transfer to chat or a phone representative for assistance when needed, Chun said.

“These are all capabilities that we’re starting with within TD Insurance but will be expanded across all of our contact centers across all of our businesses in the coming years,” he said.

New tech and acquisitions

TD in Q3 also began leveraging its NEW operating model, which rolled out during the previous quarter and offers new tooling and platform capabilities including the use of the cloud, Chief Executive Bharat Masrani said. The model “enables us to deliver innovations faster, deploy technology more efficiently, and continue to meet and exceed the rapidly evolving expectations of our customers,” he said.

The bank’s Canadian Personal Bank business also uses the NEW model, Masrani said, noting the group started migrating its flagship mobile application entirely to the public cloud which enabled its teams to “drive customer centric innovations at the speed of the market.”

Meanwhile, the bank also announced its plans to acquire New York City-based investment bank Cowen Inc., according to a release.

The announcement follows the bank’s Q1 acquisition of Memphis, Tenn.-based First Horizon, Bharat Masrani said during the call, noting that the integration of Cowen “will build TD Securities’ strong foundation” and bring 1,700 employees to TD Bank Group, which will add to the bank’s June initiative of hiring 2,000 technology workers.

The acquisition of Cowen is expected to close during the bank’s fiscal Q1 2023, Masrani said.

Bank Automation Summit Fall 2022, taking place Sept. 19-20 in Seattle, is a crucial event on automation and automation technology in banking. TD’s Paul Margarites, head of commercial digital platforms will speak at the event.  Learn more and register for Bank Automation Summit Fall 2022.