Designing a Framework of New Product Development for Digital Banking: A Case study of Bank Mellat

The serious competition among businesses has given more attention to new product development. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to design a new product development framework relying on the digital banking approach applied by Mellat Bank.

This is a qualitative, descriptive, and applied study, conducted based on the grounded theory. Interviews were conducted with 12 managers of different levels of Mellat Bank and university professors with sufficient experience in the field of new digital product development. Data was gathered by purposeful sampling until theoretical saturation with the help of Version 7 of Atlas T software. Strauss and Corbin's method along with the three techniques of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding were used to analyze the data.

A total of 122 final codes were obtained from the 12 conducted interviews. The initial model, including 6 factors for new product development with a digital banking approach, was identified: driving factors (internal and external causes), new digital product development (new product development, planning, and evaluation), strategies (influence on the market, diversification, market development, new and innovative product development), outcomes (customers as well as organizational, market and economic outcomes), intervening factors (environmental, managerial and organizational) and contextual factors (culture, political and legal, process barriers), organizational characteristics and environmental context) were compiled.

Through the new product development model with digital banking approach, the new products can be presented according to the customers’ needs. Also, feasibility and evaluation of the target market, if scientifically reviewed, can lead to the success of new product development, which will bring both customer satisfaction and productivity as well as competitive advantage to the bank.