Design Thinking: The Case of Banking Services

The banking industry has experienced an enormous amount of pressure to rebuild its own services. Mostly, because banking markets are extremely competitive and have many new competitors from other industries. Seeking competitive advantage in such an environment is, thus, a crucial activity. The way out seems to be in breaking barriers for company innovations. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reviews five examples of successful implementation of design thinking (DT) in the banking industry. While some of them are well-known, others represent an original contribution to the design thinking research based on personal interviews with managers in ANZ bank, New Zealand. All samples were discussed and chosen with regard to financial a non-financial contribution of DT. Examples listed in this paper provide an answer to the question: could DT be the life ring for the banking industry? Findings: The paper provides insights that the highest payoff from adopting a design thinking approach is not in coming up with superb product every week, but rather in innovating how people work together and how firms can adopt innovations as a part of company culture. The stories gathered in the article show us that despite many limitations design thinking has the potential to be a game changer. It could change the culture in the whole banking industry and decrease the widening gap between banks and its customers. Research/practical implications: Findings have several keys managerial implications for bank managers while cantered on possible usefulness of DT applications. Originality/value: This paper fulfils an identified need to study how banks could foster innovation processes. Focusing mainly on the banking industry, the paper is unique in its value.