Predictive and personalized customer
experiences at the centre of TD transformation strategy
TORONTO, Jan. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - TD Bank Group (TD)
(TSX and NYSE: TD) today announced the acquisition of Layer
6 Inc. ("Layer 6"), a world-renowned artificial intelligence
(AI) company based in Toronto,
Ontario.
Layer 6 has emerged as a global thought-leader and pioneer in
the delivery of responsive, personalized and insight-driven
experiences for the financial services industry. Layer 6
founders Tomi Poutanen and
Jordan Jacobs are also co-founders
of the Vector Institute, a world leader in AI research and
education that TD also supports.
Quotes
Bharat Masrani, Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group:
"Anticipating and meeting customer needs are at the heart of
our promise, and we are excited to further accelerate our
innovation agenda to deliver well into the future. As we deploy new
solutions, we will extend our deep relationship with customers
across all of our platforms and offer personalized, connected and
legendary experiences for our customers in the digital
age."
Michael Rhodes, Group Head,
Innovation, Technology and Shared Services, TD Bank Group:
"Layer 6 adds new capabilities to TD's growing base of
innovation talent and know-how. Artificial Intelligence has
the potential to power a new generation of data-driven applications
from personalized and real-time advice to predictive analytics that
will shape the future of banking for millions of
individuals."
Jordan Jacobs, Co-CEO &
Co-Founder, Layer 6:
"TD is committed to leading the market with new innovation
and superior customer experiences. Layer 6 was founded to
help organizations harness the power of artificial intelligence,
and we are excited to join TD and help them build for the
future."
Today's announcement builds on an impressive track record of
accomplishment as TD harnesses the potential of artificial
intelligence:
- TD is collaborating with the Vector Institute for Artificial
Intelligence, which is developing the next generation of AI
technologies.
- TD recently announced an agreement with leading conversational
AI provider, Kasisto to integrate the company's KAI Banking
platform into TD's top-ranked mobile app.
- TD recently collaborated with Amazon to introduce new voice
banking "skills" on Alexa.
- TD was the first financial institution in Canada to offer a chatbot on Twitter to
empower our customers to get instant help on select general
inquiries.
- Committed to the future development of data and analytics
talent – a critical and foundational need for successful AI
solutions – TD is funding new initiatives at both Western University in London, Ontario and the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.
The acquisition of Layer 6 is not expected to have a meaningful
impact on TD's Common Equity Tier 1 Capital ratio.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its
subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the
"Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves more than
25 million customers in three key businesses operating in a number
of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian
Retail, including TD Canada Trust, TD Auto Finance Canada, TD
Wealth (Canada), TD Direct
Investing, and TD Insurance; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank,
America's Most Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth
(U.S.), and an investment in TD Ameritrade; and Wholesale Banking,
including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the world's leading
online financial services firms, with approximately 11.5 million
active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$1.3 trillion in assets on October 31, 2017. The Toronto-Dominion Bank
trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
About Layer 6 Inc.
Layer 6 enables a financial
institution to deploy the most advanced Machine Learning solutions
through a world leading Artificial Intelligence prediction
engine for enterprise data. The platform helps anticipate how to
provide each customer with a better, more personalized experience
in real-time. Layer 6 was founded by Jordan
Jacobs, Tomi Poutanen and
Maks Volkovs in Toronto, and
launched publicly in late 2016. The company has been recognized for
its leading accuracy in real-time personalization and prediction
through engagements with global companies and as winner of the 2017
RecSys Challenge by a wide margin over top international AI labs.
The Layer 6 data science team led by Maks Volkovs does
ground-breaking machine learning research which is regularly
published and presented at top AI conferences, including NIPS, ICML
and RecSys. Jordan Jacobs and Tomi
Poutanen are also co-founders of the Vector Institute, a
concept they initiated with Geoffrey
Hinton and Richard Zemel.
Vector launched in 2017 with $230
Million of backing from over 30 companies including TD, and
the governments of Canada and
Ontario.
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information
From
time to time, the Bank (as defined in this document) makes written
and/or oral forward-looking statements, including in this document,
in other filings with Canadian regulators or the United States (U.S.) Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), and in other communications. In
addition, representatives of the Bank may make forward-looking
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All such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbour"
provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements
under, applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation,
including the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements made in this document regarding the Bank's objectives
and priorities for 2018 and beyond and strategies to achieve them,
the regulatory environment in which the Bank operates, and the
Bank's anticipated financial performance. Forward-looking
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"estimate", "plan", "goal", "target", "may", and "could". By
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Bank to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and
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effects of which can be difficult to predict – may cause actual
results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the
forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could cause,
individually or in the aggregate, such differences include: credit,
market (including equity, commodity, foreign exchange, interest
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the ability of the Bank to execute on key priorities, including the
successful completion of acquisitions and dispositions, business
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information; the impact of new and changes to, or application of,
current laws and regulations, including without limitation tax
laws, risk-based capital guidelines and liquidity regulatory
guidance and the bank recapitalization "bail-in" regime; exposure
related to significant litigation and regulatory matters; increased
competition, including through internet and mobile banking and
non-traditional competitors; changes to the Bank's credit ratings;
changes in currency and interest rates (including the possibility
of negative interest rates); increased funding costs and market
volatility due to market illiquidity and competition for funding;
critical accounting estimates and changes to accounting standards,
policies, and methods used by the Bank; existing and potential
international debt crises; and the occurrence of natural and
unnatural catastrophic events and claims resulting from such
events. The Bank cautions that the preceding list is not exhaustive
of all possible risk factors and other factors could also adversely
affect the Bank's results. For more detailed information, please
refer to the "Risk Factors and Management" section of the 2017
MD&A, as may be updated in subsequently filed quarterly reports
to shareholders and news releases (as applicable) related to any
transactions or events discussed under the heading "Significant
Events" in the relevant MD&A, which applicable releases may be
found on www.td.com. All such factors should be considered
carefully, as well as other uncertainties and potential events, and
the inherent uncertainty of forward-looking statements, when making
decisions with respect to the Bank and the Bank cautions readers
not to place undue reliance on the Bank's forwardlooking
statements.
Material economic assumptions underlying the forward-looking
statements contained in this document are set out in the 2017
MD&A under the headings "Economic Summary and Outlook", for the
Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking segments,
"Business Outlook and Focus for 2018", and for the Corporate
segment, "Focus for 2018", each as may be updated in subsequently
filed quarterly reports to shareholders.
Any forward-looking statements contained in this document
represent the views of management only as of the date hereof and
are presented for the purpose of assisting the Bank's shareholders
and analysts in understanding the Bank's financial position,
objectives and priorities, and anticipated financial performance as
at and for the periods ended on the dates presented, and may not be
appropriate for other purposes. The Bank does not undertake to
update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral,
that may be made from time to time by or on its behalf, except as
required under applicable securities legislation.
SOURCE TD Bank Group