Banks and fintechs are busy with new product launches during the COVID-19 pandemic. During a panel discussion at Bank Innovation Build this week, leaders from Ally, BlueVine, Citizens Bank of Edmond and FISPAN spoke about moving digital transformation forward. 

“[Digital] went from a nice-to-have to a must-have,” said Clayton Weir, co-founder of product and strategy at the commercial banking vendor FISPAN. “Innovation has gone from being out on an island, being these really specific teams, to it coming a little closer to the core business.

Although the pandemic has completely disrupted modern life, including day-to-day banking, the panelists said it hasn’t stopped their institutions from launching new products and processes.

Josh Pape, executive vice president and chief banking officer at Citizens Bank of Edmond, said the bank has been developing a teller-less branch for cash-intensive businesses. Although COVID-19 has accelerated the move away from cash, certain businesses, like bars, still need to deposit sums of cash and make change. The Edmond, Okla.-based bank has been working on its technology for years as it has customers located far from its branches who are unwilling to drive long distances just to manage cash. However, the pandemic accelerated the need for technology to address the issue, so the bank built the technology in-house and has a patent pending.

The drive for new products has continued in the small business lending space as well. Herman Man, chief product officer at BlueVine, told Build attendees that the SMB fintech lender made its checking account available to the public in July. The company launched the beta version of the product in October and had planned a general rollout for the first quarter of 2020, but pushed that back in order to focus on Paycheck Protection Program loans earlier this year. “We also launched our bill-pay services that are dedicated to small businesses,” Man said. “They’re able to, for example, use their credit card to pay for bills even if the merchant actually doesn’t accept it.”

See also: BI Build: Banks, fintechs detour to keep up with shifting demands

The ability to launch new products during the pandemic has resulted in some institutions having increased expectations of their teams. Sathish Muthukrishnan, chief information, data and digital officer at Ally, said the bank has adopted what it calls “COVID speed,” or the ability to accelerate product development.

“You have to understand what is relevant to customers, not what you think is relevant,” Muthukrishnan said. “The ability to pivot, be scrappy and understand what the customer really wants has become of topmost importance for us.”