The platform created by SigFig for UBS will enable the some 7,000 advisors at the latter firm to provide advice on assets held in-house and at other institutions.

As part of the arrangement, UBS has made an equity investment in SigFig, the financial size of which was not disclosed. Both organizations have also decided to create a technology "innovation lab," part of a trend of banks setting up such facilities to stay ahead of fintech competition.

"This alliance will strengthen our advisors’ ability to provide outstanding client experiences and outcomes by combining our expertise in relationships and personalised advice with SigFig's skills in technology, data science, design and development," said Tom Naratil, president of UBS Americas.

Such a venture is part of a wider, global trend in fintech innovation activity. Last month Deutsche Bank, for example, opened an innovation lab in the place most widely associated with new techie ideas: California’s Silicon Valley

HSBC and Aviva, meanwhile, are among the various other finance companies involved in creating labs to ensure they are ahead of upstart fintech challengers. The labs are designed to spawn ideas in areas such as security, client reporting, apps, use of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and other fields. Last week, the University of Oxford and Man AHL, part of UK-listed hedge fund business Man Group, enhanced the focus of the Oxford-Man Institute, which researches quantitative finance, on so-called machine learning.