Westpac yesterday unveiled 'the hive', a $4 million early stage innovation hub set up in the old St George headquarters building in Kogarah, NSW.Presiding over the opening yesterday, CEO Gail Kelly said the financial sector was going through a revolution and there was a "new energy around innovation. The world is moving so jolly fast and we want to be front and central in the new world of banking."Kelly said that "by investing in the hive we will be able to quickly test and develop ideas for new products and services that will set us apart from our competitors."Heading the new centre is Ian Hill, group head of innovation, who joined the bank four weeks ago from Microsoft.Hill said that Westpac defined innovation as "doing things differently in order to realise greater value for our customers, employees and shareholders."That would not always result in a new technology or gadget, but could instead involve streamlining a process or customer interaction, he said.Nevertheless the bank took the opportunity to announce a series of new technologies, including an app for the Samsung smartwatch that provides users with a quick balance, ATM and branch locations. It also announced the latest iteration of its Get Cash application, which from September 23 will allow customers to get cash from an ATM without their card or needing to call the Westpac call centre, using just a secure code sent to their smartphoneAnd the WorkSmart Westpac employee app, which provides a range of productivity tools for its staff, is scheduled to go live next week.Access to the hive will be provided across the Westpac Group, and the bank's technology partners will also be invited to make use of the space. The bank has invested heavily in technology and communications platforms for the hive to allow rapid prototyping and also support virtual collaboration among Westpac personnel and partners, wherever they are based.