The US financial group has created its eighth financial innovation centre, this time in Singapore.

The "innovation lab" trend trundles on, with BNY Mellon, the US-headquartered financial services group, becoming the latest firm to open such a facility. BNY Mellon is opening a Global Innovation Center in Singapore on 17 November.

The centre is the eighth of its kind to be opened by the firm. It is designed to bring about collaboration among financial technology firms and clients in Asia to power solutions that BNY Mellon’s digital “ecosystem”, NEXEN, will use. NEXEN pulls together solutions from BNY Mellon, select third-parties and clients globally onto one platform. Through NEXEN and its network of innovation centres worldwide, BNY Mellon is in talks with more than 300 global fintech start-ups.

The launch is part of the Singapore FinTech Festival. 

Other innovation hubs operated by BNY Mellon are in California, Jersey City, Chennai, London, Pittsburgh and New York City.

“The opening of our eighth innovation center in Asia is a reflection of the region’s rapidly developing innovative technology and fintech landscape, as well as the increasing importance of Asia to BNY Mellon’s business,” Stephen Lackey, chairman of Asia-Pacific at the firm, said in a statement.

There has been a steady procession of financial organisations - including but not limited to banks - rolling out innovation labs or “sandboxes” (to use two descriptions) that are designed to spawn ideas that firms hope will be competitive winners and keep ahead of start-up businesses challenging conventional banking. To see a feature exploring how innovation labs work and their value to sponsors, click here.