How TD turned 100,000 employee ideas into 10,000 actions

Patricia Curtis believes her clients should have an easier way to access their credit scores and reports, whether to help plan their financial goals or protect against identity theft or fraud.

Curtis, Personal Banking Specialist TDproposed making credit scores available in the TD app for free. Working with TransUnion, a consumer credit reporting agency, TD implemented Curtis' idea.

“Our colleagues interact with our customers every day, every minute, and we need their information.”

Josh Death, TD

Her idea has given more than 500,000 clients a tool that can help them make better financial decisions.

TD customers can now check their credit scores, which TransUnion updates weekly, in the TD app as often as they like, compare them to national averages and use the app's simulator to determine how their future financial decisions may affect their credit score.

It is precisely for the implementation of precisely these opportunities that the TD iD8 program was created. The internal program, launched in 2019, was created to give TD colleagues a clear path to identify problems faced by clients and colleagues and propose solutions. Since its inception, more than 100,000 ideas have been submitted and more than 10,000 implemented.

This approach is supported by TD Invent, a strategic initiative designed to drive targeted innovation across the bank. Through programs like iD8, TD Invent encourages all TD colleagues to help transform the bank by challenging the status quo, anticipating future needs and driving innovation with purpose.

According to Josh Deth, vice president of intellectual property and ideas at TD, it's a demonstration that the best innovation happens when everyone contributes.

“This program is a recognition that we don't have all the answers sitting in headquarters,” Death said. “Our colleagues interact with our customers every day, every minute, and we need their information.”

Innovation, decentralized

Customer-facing colleagues are often closest to the points of disagreement, and iD8 gives them a direct channel to share ideas on how things can be done better, easier and faster.

Some of the ideas they implement improve how customers interact with services. Others eliminate internal inefficiencies or make simple adjustments that save time and effort.

“We really want to encourage everyone in the organization to feel empowered to innovate with purpose,” said Imran Khan, head of innovation and design at TD.

iD8 was created to create a standardized approach to ideation. TD knew its people had valuable ideas, but their ideas often remained siloed, with revisions left to individual teams.

The TD Invent approach gives colleagues the opportunity to be curious, explore the use of new technologies to solve real-world problems, share their unique ideas and bring them to fruition.

By doing so, the bank generates more curiosity, creative thinking and ideas that help shape the future of banking at TD.

iD8 is an example of how this thinking has spread throughout the bank. Ideas are brought by “iD8rs”, colleagues from all over the TD. Ideas are reviewed by a network of “dedicated advocates” from across TD who are trained to evaluate potential, prioritize what's important, and find solutions worth pursuing.

“These are connectors,” said Death. “They are the ones who receive the ideas, sort them and move the ideas forward.”

Ideas that meet the right criteria are transferred to the appropriate business area. Colleagues are not required to lead development, but many remain close to the work and often see the results in their daily work.

“For most people, it’s part of the desktop,” Death said. “They want to flex their innovation muscles, and this is a program they can use to do that.”

Participation is voluntary, and TD tracks contributions, recognizes impact, and celebrates results. Colleagues whose ideas come to fruition can earn badges, and each year the company brings together top performers to celebrate their achievements and share their contributions.

Design from lived experience

The work ranges from minor policy changes to digital product reshaping, redesigned forms, and streamlining the approval process. What they have in common, Khan says, is a focus on life experiences.

“We believe human-centered design is at the core of innovation,” Khan said. “It’s really about understanding and uncovering true human needs.”

Some ideas take a few minutes to implement. Others want a deeper look at how people interact with banking services, including what they expect, where they get stuck and how to make the experience more intuitive.

TD develops these new ideas by prioritizing human-centered design. Teams work directly with colleagues or clients to clarify needs, test potential fixes, and make adjustments based on feedback.

Human-centered innovation is another core principle of TD Invent. Colleagues are encouraged to find not just smarter and faster solutions, but also more humane ones. According to Khan, whenever TD innovates, people and their needs are always at the center of the process.

“We want to make sure we understand basic human needs,” Khan added.

Not every decision involves a major overhaul. One article suggested adding a line to an email sent with a replaced debit card explaining that the PIN had not changed. This simple addition resulted in a dramatic reduction in call volume, freeing up time for both customers and frontline teams.

The rest of the ideas are based on personal experience. Death remembered one idea aimed at improving the management of the estates, a process he had recently gone through following the death of his father.

Teresa Villone-Dinatale, who runs TD's real estate services for high-net-worth clients, saw an opportunity to reduce paperwork during one of the most difficult times in a client's life.

By combining two documents used to waive probate and estate services, she reduced processing time from an hour to 25 minutes. This change now supports 23,000 customers per year and freed up 10,000 hours of TD resources.

“Aside from the grief, the process itself was also difficult,” Death said of his own experience managing his father’s estate. “When I heard about the solution, what was proposed and that it would be implemented, I thought, 'This is a really good idea.'

Everyone gets a vote

Most recently, TD has introduced challenge-oriented innovation throughout the organization. In this model, business units identify a specific problem they want to help solve and share the challenge with a broader group of employees through the iD8 platform.

Colleagues across TD can then propose solutions, and management can tap into the same network of innovators to find solutions to specific business problems.

Death said this downward pattern is only about 18 months old, but it has already gained momentum.

“We're getting really great quality ideas,” he added.

Khan believes the iD8 reflects TD's approach to problem solving. Rather than leaving innovation to dedicated teams, the program gives employees at all levels a direct channel to identify disagreements, propose solutions and test ideas, while recognizing that some of the best ideas come from the people closest to the problem.

“I think there's often a misconception that you can't innovate in a highly regulated environment,” Khan said. “You have to respect the ground rules of the industry you work in, but we firmly believe that we can still innovate in this environment.”

According to Khan, iD8 is designed to foster a culture in which initiative and observation are expected not only from senior teams, but from all colleagues.

“Our colleagues love the fact that no matter where they are in the organization, iD8 gives them a voice,” he said. “Their ideas are valued.”

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TD Invent is a strategic alignment of efforts to support purposeful innovation at TD. For more information visit TD stories page or learn more about the banking center for artificial intelligence research and development, Layer 6.

All photos courtesy of TD.