One of the goals we set for ourselves this month was to find the ten most watch-worthy technology companies serving the financial industry. This is not to be confused with the FinTech 100 ranking we did for our October issue - that list is based strictly upon revenue gained from financial industry clients. The Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch is a list of the ten vendors, startups and established companies alike, that have technology that is innovative, that meets a current need for banks and their customers, and that comes with a likely-to-succeed business model.
We received scads of nominations. There are literally hundreds of technology companies developing new hardware and software for this industry. Our challenge was to carefully consider each one while thinking about all the other tech companies out there doing interesting things that did not fill out an application form on our website. (I've always felt that recognition programs that only reward those who boast about themselves are unfair.)
The result, we believe, is a list of tech leaders that will help banks find their way back to growth and improved profitability. Some, such as m-Via, are coming up with new ways to serve the community of underbanked consumers who are so unhappy with the industry today. Others, such as McAfee and ActivePath, are providing the security and compliance automation banks so sorely need right now. APT and Cardlytics are helping banks define and test new products and services that will lead to new sources of revenue. Google and PayPal are bringing the mobile wallet concept to life. Open Solutions has come up with a new way for banks to develop and share applications. And Netuitive and Egnyte have created platforms that help banks take advantage of cloud computing services without risking service outages.
Forward-thinking banks like ING are already investing in the cloud. Tony Kerrison, a cloud computing leader since his days at Merrill Lynch, is building a hybrid private/public cloud infrastructure he's hoping other banks in the region will want to share. He's bringing efficiency, flexibility and eventually, a lowered cost of information technology ownership to his bank by using some of the latest cloud-related software and setting an example for others to follow.
Also this month, we take a look at what's happening in the broader markets for governance, risk and compliance and data center fabric technology, we share an update on dot-bank initiatives and we analyze the mixed message consumers are sending about mobile banking and mobile payments.
We hope you find lots to think about in this issue - and as always, please do let us know what you think.
