What it takes to stay on top in fintech

You want proof that the banking business is becoming more of a technology business? Here's a statistic.

The lowest-ranking vendor on our list of the top 100 companies took in $30 million of revenue from financial services clients in 2015 — up 30% from the previous year and 150% from 2013.

This growth is being driven by the new: innovative ideas in areas like data, digital and omnichannel banking. The companies that debuted on the list, and those that moved up from their previous positions, set themselves apart in these areas. Smaller companies focused on tried-and-true products like core banking and branch technology were nudged off.

Tata Consultancy Services leads the FinTech Forward Top 100 ranking for the second year in a row, deriving more than a third of its revenue from financial services. FIS was a close second and Thomson Reuters (recently moved from the Top 25 Enterprise rankings) came in third, also with one-third-plus revenue from financial services. Thomson Reuters, traditionally known as a media and information services company (it once owned American Banker), has been acquiring technology in recent years, altering its revenue mix. Meanwhile, nine vendors on the FinTech Forward list — including longtime regulars SunGard and Wausau — were acquired in the past year. That opened doors for new organizations to join the list in 2016, and three organizations, including Thomson Reuters, to move from the Enterprise Rankings.

Where will the next wave of growth be? In June, a BAI survey asked financial services leaders, "Where do you think your institution will allocate the most investment dollars in the next year to two years?" The answers included technology integration, analytics, customer relations management and Dodd-Frank compliance. New entrants poised to capitalize on these trends include Lombard Risk, Corvil and Microdynamics.

Enterprise Companies

Growth, acquisitions and restructuring in 2015 led to some of the most significant shake-ups in the Enterprise rankings in recent memory. While IBM tops the list of organizations — with less than one-third of overall revenue coming from financial services again this year — a spinoff at HP sets the newly created Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in the No. 6 spot for 2016. That moves Microsoft, Dell, Accenture and Cisco up one spot apiece, while ATOS Origin jumped four spots to 17.

But here's a surprise: The biggest movers either joined or left the list this year. While three organizations achieved enough growth in financial services revenue to move to the FinTech Forward Top 100 list, CA Technologies (with revenue increases in other industries) and Sopra Steria (due to a merger) moved to the Enterprise rankings. Publicis, which recently acquired Sapient, rounds out this year's list — while fintech firms that specialize in cloud-based services, big data and support of mobile offerings continue to come out on top.

Companies to Watch

The final ranking is qualitative rather than quantitative. Our panel of judges reviewed more than 80 applicants against a set of agreed-upon criteria to select our Companies to Watch. The judges looked for emerging innovators with proven success in the industry that offer solutions to tackle today's problems.

"It represents a good cross-section of all the hottest up-and-coming technology in the financial services industry, and the winners address business needs in all areas of financial services," said one judge, CarrieAnne Cormier, Avidia Bank's vice president of retail operations and strategy.

Organizations like Malauzai, Moven and SupiPay provide financial services leaders with powerful tools to serve their customers, said another judge, Holly Hughes, BAI's chief marketing officer.

"This year's Companies to Watch are driving innovation to enhance bank customer experience and provide more advanced, technology-driven products, which we view as a positive for the industry," Hughes said.

Solutions across the list vary, but one theme recurs: managing the customer experience, from lead through onboarding and beyond.

Terri Cable is BAI's managing director of research and business intelligence and served as one of nine judges for this year's FinTech Forward Companies to Watch list.

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