TORONTO, ON - January 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, Scotiabank announced the creation of the Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics at Smith School of Business at Queen's University, bringing together professors and students to collaborate with Scotiabank teams on applied research in customer analytics in order to deliver a reimagined customer experience.

"Our customers expect simple, seamless and personalized services; and data and analytics are key to making this possible," said Michael Zerbs, Executive Vice President and Co-Head, Information Technology, Enterprise Technology at Scotiabank. "We recognize that analytics will fundamentally reshape the customer experience and Scotiabank will be a leader in this transformation. By using analytics, we can identify the right products and advice for our customers, at the right stage of life, helping them become better off. At Scotiabank, we know that partnerships, such as this one with Queen's, are essential for driving success and evolving with our customers' expectations." 

The collaboration between Scotiabank and Smith School of Business will extend beyond applied research to include community building efforts that bring together analytics practitioners and innovators across industries.

Scotiabank will also provide internship opportunities for Queen's PhD, MSc, Master of Management Analytics and MBA students.

"More and more organizations are realizing the power of using big data and analytics as a competitive advantage," said David Saunders, Dean, Smith School of Business. "We are excited by the many opportunities the Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics will provide both students and faculty, as well as the data-driven solutions we will produce."

The Centre will be co-led by two Smith School of Business faculty: Yuri Levin, Chaired Professor of Operations Management and Director of the Master of Management Analytics program, and Mikhail Nediak, Associate Professor and Toller Family Fellow of Operations Management, with participation from Smith School faculty members in Management Science, Operations Management, Marketing, and Business Economics, as well as from the Queen's School of Computing.

The Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics, housed at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University is slated to open in February 2016.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and parts of Asia. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of approximately 90,000 employees and assets of $856 billion (as at October 31, 2015), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankNews.

About Smith School of Business

The Stephen J. R. Smith School of Business at Queen's University (Smith School of Business) is one of the world's premier business schools -- renowned for exceptional programs, outstanding faculty and research, and the quality of its graduates. Thanks to a $50 million transformational gift from Stephen Smith, the Smith School continues to provide students with academic excellence and a superior overall experience. Smith School of Business -- where Canada's first Commerce program was launched in 1919 -- is located at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. The School delivers programs at locations across Canada, as well in the United States, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and China.