Financial giant NatWest has named David Grunwald, a former Google executive, as the company’s first-ever director of innovation and partnerships.
According to Finextra, Grunwald will report to Scott Marcar and Matt Austen, group CIO and director of corporate, development and sustainability respectively.
In this role, Grunwald will focus on how the bank can deliver its strategies best through partnerships and innovation.
Grunwald arrives at NatWest from PE company AIRE, where, alongside investment strategy, he focused on a portfolio of new vetures, including a digital bank serving corporate clients.
He also spent eight years at Google, where he led startup outreach and Worldwide Partnerships at Google for Entrepreneurs.
In a joint statement, Austen and Marcar said, “We’re delighted to have someone with David’s expertise joining us at a time when serving our customers in new ways to offer great experiences, powered by industry-leading partnerships and innovation is key to helping us unlock our growth potential.”
Earlier this year, NatWest entered a strategic partnership with the Vodeno Group to create a new banking-as-a-service business in the UK.
This partnership will enable businesses to embed financial services products such as payments, deposits, point-of-sale credit and merchant cash advances directly into their ecosystem. This will be powered by Vodeno Group’s BaaS technology, and NatWest Group’s banking technology and UK banking licences.
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