This year's Innovators ranking includes 10 companies and technologies that have stepped up with innovative solutions that meet pressing needs facing the financial services industry.
1. mFoundry, Starbucks Card Mobile
One of the most significant recent innovations in mobile payments was announced in September when mFoundry teamed up with Starbucks to introduce an iPhone app called Starbucks Card Mobile. The Starbucks program, which is being field tested at 16 Starbucks locations in Seattle and Northern California, utilizes a 2D bar code system from mFoundry which enables latte drinkers and other customers of the Seattle-based chain to pay for their orders using mobile phones at the point of sale.
2. IBM, ZTIC
There seems to be no online banking security regimen that's completely impervious to penetration by fraudsters, with attacks on business accounts and ACH fraud the latest vector to fall prey to massive compromise. IBM's ZTIC (Zone Trusted Information Channel) hardware security device offers respite from the type of man-in-the-middle and man-in-the-browser attacks that are currently plaguing business banking accounts.
3. PNC, Virtual Wallet
It's not often that a new banking product changes the way consumers talk about money. But it's even rarer that an offering changes the way banks talk about money. That's what PNC Financial Services Corp. did with its Virtual Wallet and Virtual Wallet Student online personal financial management tools.
4. Conexxus, REO Optimizer
The one-two punch of economic crisis coupled with housing slump has burdened banks with a larger responsibility for managing the distressed properties that are quickly starting to crowd their books. With REO Optimizer, Conexxus hopes to alleviate some of the burden.
5. ClairMail, Triple-play integration"
ClairMail has pioneered the mobile banking triple play by offering messaging, mobile Web and client applications on an integrated platform. Using the latest Smartphone technologies, the Novato, CA-based company fuses all three modes into a single, intuitive 'smart client' interface which provides mobile banking customers with an integrated user experience.
6. Oracle, Revelus Market Risk
One lesson from the financial crisis is that risk - in all its guises - is terribly difficult to grasp fully but the consequences for not doing so can be severe. At large financial institutions in particular it's vital to have a holistic view of all kinds of risk across different operational units and different geographies in order to remain within internally set risk parameters and to comply with stepped up regulatory rules. In the wake of these market pressures, Oracle launched its latest version of Reveleus Market Risk in January, part of Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications.
7. Fundtech, Global PAYplus-Services Platform
Bank of America wants to bring the same customer service that FedEx offers for packages - tracking, pricing options, delivery choices, alerts, and online signatures - to the world of payments. It's no small aspiration. At most banks the payments data necessary for this level of customer interaction are trapped in the back office and can't be pushed out to where customers can use it. To change that, BofA has tapped Fundtech's Global PAYplus-Services Platform.
8. CECA, Digital Signature Project
Paper is expensive to handle and banks have long hoped for its elimination. But for many reasons - legal uncertainties, lack of technology standards, and mistrust by consumers - the "wet" signature has persisted, holding back the migration of paper documents to electronic form. However, the logjam may soon end. The Confederacion Espanola de Cajas de Ahorros (CECA, or The Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks) has rolled out its "Firma Digitalizada" project, a.k.a. Digitalized Signature for Financial Sector Branches, which is quickly exceeding its goals for 2009.
9. Fiserv, UChoose Rewards
Fiserv's UChoose Rewards program lets small financial institutions punch above their weight and compete with the large national banks in an area of growing importance to consumers: debit and credit card loyalty programs.
10. Bling Nation
Bling Nation Ltd. has a simple yet elegant way for community banks and credit unions to process retail merchant transactions. Instead of pushing retail debit or credit processing out to Visa or MasterCard networks to process purchases made at a restaurant or a clothing store, Bling Nation offers a wireless payment system where consumers can use their cell phones as secured mobile wallets.
