Deutsche Bank's Watson Puts Mobile Apps on the Fast Track

Like many of this year's digital banker of the year honorees, David Watson, Deutsche Bank's head of client access products for the global transaction banking business, tries to involve bank clients in the testing and development of new products and services. The bank has dedicated teams that focus solely on the user experience.

"They are in constant touch with our clients and we involve them in the design, development, testing and implementation process," says Watson, who leads the product strategy, product development and cross-product strategic solutions for global transaction banking. "We also regularly exchange best practices with our colleagues in the corporate banking and securities unit."

The global transaction banking unit serves large corporations and financial institutions. One of the innovations introduced under Watson in 2013 was a cash manager app for corporate clients in India. The app was designed based on feedback from local clients, who wanted simple online banking tools and easy access to a range of services. It provides a dashboard that lets users create, authorize and reconcile payments. It's part of Deutsche Bank's Autobahn platform, which has more than 160 apps. It will be rolled out globally over the next 18 months.

Another app introduced in 2013 was a cash inquiry app for financial institutions, for online transaction research and case management. The app has more than 4,500 users among 1,500 clients.

Also in 2013, the bank launched some of the services on the Autobahn platform as mobile apps, including access to the bank's research. Watson says he supported the bank's rollout of Autobahn Mobile services for GTB clients from the very beginning, but at a moderated pace, making sure initial client feedback would be considered and that only those apps that bring something valuable to the client would be offered, he says.

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