The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) spent $2.6 million on technology-related costs in the third quarter, an 8% year-over-year bump boosted by both increased staffing and digital initiative costs.

The $1.3 trillion bank continues to “invest in our people and technology to create more value for our clients,” RBC President and Chief Executive Dave McKay said during today’s Q3 earnings call. The bank did not specify technology spend areas in its earnings presentation.

The increase in spending is also due to “higher discretionary and tech-adjacent costs reflecting investments in technology and infrastructure to support clients and business growth,” according to the bank’s earnings report.

RBC reported 5.9 million active mobile users during Q3, an 11% YoY increase, while active digital users clocked in at 8.2 million, a 5% YoY increase, according to the earnings presentation.

Tech-related investments

The bank touted its recent tech investments made over the past year, including Vantage Snapshot, a mobile feature that informs users of value gained by an RBC bank account, and NOMI, RBC’s artificial intelligence (AI)-backed digital assistant that provides tailored insights on customer spending habits.

McKay called last year’s launch of Vantage “a strategic investment” during the bank’s last earnings call.

Looking ahead, RBC is “effectively leveraging our multiyear investments in this business, including technology, infrastructure, treasury, management and sales capacity, including commercial and private bankers,” McKay said.

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (RY) were trading at $94.58 (-3.01%) as of August 24, 2022 2:13 PM.

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