TORONTO and REDMOND, WA, April 23, 2019 /CNW/ - TD Bank Group (TD) and Microsoft today announced a strategic relationship in which TD will use Microsoft Azure as the cloud foundation to provide its technology and design teams with tools designed for secure, agile and flexible access to data and AI resources. This will further enable the Bank to adapt and quickly respond to changing customer needs.

"At TD we are shaping the future of banking in the digital age by creating personalized, connected and legendary experiences across all of our channels," says Bharat Masrani, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, TD. "Our strategic relationship with Microsoft will help accelerate and fuel new and innovative banking experiences for our customers, clients and colleagues." 

Engaging Microsoft to help support the Bank's digital transformation journey, TD deployed Office 365 to deliver improved mobile solutions and engagement for more than 85,000 employees. With today's announcement, the collaboration continues. Microsoft Azure is positioned to help accelerate new capabilities when it comes to the design and delivery of future customer banking experiences. 

"Every financial services company today has an incredible opportunity to apply advances in cloud and AI to redefine every aspect of their business – from the customer experience to risk management and trading," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. "Our strategic relationship will enable TD to deliver on its vision to build the bank of the future with the power of Azure, our trusted cloud, to quickly adapt and respond to changing customer needs, and builds on our existing relationship that is focused on empowering TD employees to be more productive and collaborative with Office 365."

TD Securities, the wholesale division of TD Bank Group, is leveraging the Microsoft cloud to help transform their derivatives pricing and risk management experience. By moving the solution to Microsoft Azure, the business now has faster access to high-performance analytics, which allows the Bank to respond rapidly to client pricing requests.

By continuing to leverage Microsoft's cloud capabilities, security investments and technical engineering strength, TD will further accelerate its transformation journey to build the bank of the future, adding to its ongoing investments in leading digital, AI and analytics talent.

Building an Innovation Ecosystem

Today's announcement builds on an impressive track record of innovation over the past five years as TD shapes the future of banking for its customers. In addition to working with world leading technology companies such as Microsoft, TD has also:

• Collaborated with startups including:
• Flybits, to collaborate on providing enhanced, micro-personalized mobile experiences to TD customers;
• The Hydrogen Corporation (Hydrogen), to offer clients who invest with TD a complete, end-to-end digital investing experience; 
• Kasisto, to integrate the conversational AI provider's KAI Banking platform into TD's top-ranked mobile app¹;
• Created a data and analytics centre of excellence focused on cross-bank, data-driven innovation;
• Acquired leading Canadian artificial intelligence start-up Layer 6 in early 2018 to harness the power of AI and shape the future of banking for TD customers;
• Further invested in digital talent with our Technology Solutions team filling over 2,000 positions with a combination of internal and external applicants in 2018;
• Invested in TD Lab, TD's enterprise resource for innovation, located at the Communitech hub in Kitchener-Waterloo, to explore new banking concepts with emerging technology, re-imagined customer experiences, and different business models.

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 more than 12 million active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$1.3 trillion in assets on January 31, 2019. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

SOURCE TD Bank Group