Truist Foundry Billed as ‘Startup Within Bank’ for Innovation

Building upon its May acquisition of gamified mobile finance app Long Game, Truist has launched an innovation division that it said will function as “a startup within the bank.”

The new Truist Foundry’s foundational team joins the bank from Long Game and will work with other members of the Truist team — including professionals from the bank’s Emerging Channels engineering team — to develop new products and experiences, a Truist spokesperson told PYMNTS in an email.

With a cross-functional team of business, design, operations, product, risk and technology professionals, the Truist Foundry will “deliver game-changing products and serve the bank’s LOBs [lines of business],” according to the email.

Lindsay Holden, the former CEO of Long Game, will serve as head of the Truist Foundry.

Long Game’s gamified finance mobile app uses prize-linked savings and casual gaming to help motivate smarter financial behaviors. It also improves account growth and client retention for banks.

When the acquisition of the firm by Truist was announced May 3, the bank said Holden and Long Game engineers, designers and business leaders would join the bank and work on new solutions.

“Truist’s commitment to help people build financial wellness is exactly what we are about at Long Game,” Holden said at the time. “We’ve revolutionized bank engagement and are eager to apply ourselves to creating disruptive technologies that help Truist deliver a human touch in new ways.”

As PYMNTS reported May 4, Truist is what might be called a “traditional” financial institution, as it is the sixth-largest bank in the nation, as ranked by assets.

By taking Long Game into its fold, the company is looking to influence customers in ways that would conceivably entice them into, for example, building up savings and adopting other proactive financial behaviors.

Now, with the launch of Truist Foundry, it aims to add other innovations as well.