From queue to café: Tangerine’s interventions in Canada’s digital banking

Traditionally, banking institutions have relied on face-to-face encounters to provide trusted and credible financial services. However, in today’s digitally-orientated marketplace, this is no longer an exclusive option. In Canada, the banking industry has be resistant to adopt these newer digital platforms and this introduces a number of potential setbacks for the nation’s economic and international interests. At the same time, the unique and emergent Canadian banking institution, Tangerine, has responded positively and productively to the changes. The bank, I argue in this Major Research Paper, thus offers a valuable case study for an analysis of new models of agile banking. By depicting the narrative of Canada’s banking history, investigating industry market documents and reports, then visually analyzing logos and branding strategies using theories from branding and visual semiotics, the MRP provides a comparison of Tangerine’s branding and infrastructure relative to Canada’s ‘Big Five’ banks (BMO, RBC, CIBC, TD, Scotiabank). Compared to the Big Five, Tangerine’s strong leadership, customer loyalty, and integration of digital practices make its intervention in Canada’s banking industry truly disruptive and as such, a model for 21st century banks to come.