FinServ 25: The Most Influential Voices In Banking

THE FINANCIAL BRAND: Determining the most influential people in banking is not just about social media scores. With this in mind, more than 100 global leaders in the financial services industry were asked to identify the top ‘influencers’ who are leading the charge in an industry being disrupted. The influencers selected are considered thought leaders on critical topics such as mobile and online delivery, digital transformation, innovation, payments, customer experience and and multichannel marketing.

Over the past several months, many publications have created lists of people who are considered influential in the financial services industry. Most of these lists use the ‘social media influence’ of these key industry leaders.

A social media metric like Klout is far from perfect, however, and is not a complete representation of someone’s actual influence. For example, Jamie Dimon, who has considerable influence in the financial services industry, doesn’t have a Klout score at all because he is not active on social channels. So, how can we better determine who is influential in financial services?

Using Twitter’s new group messaging capability, a distinctive group of FinTech leaders took an informal poll and found that many industry influencers were often unrecognized in these social media based listings. As an outgrowth of these lively discussions, it was decided to reach out to the Financial Brand Crowdsourcing Panel for a broader opinion of who the financial services industry itself thought was influential.

The survey included over 100 bankers, credit union executives, solution providers, consultants and analysts worldwide, asking the question, “Who do you follow, read, watch and listen to in the industry?” The panel was also asked who they respected and referred to when trying to better understand the banking industry’s transformation.

The response to this first ever industry survey of influencers was overwhelming. Over 400 votes were cast (the survey allowed for 5 people to be recognized on each ballot), with 85 different individuals receiving a mention. While many of the names were familiar, some have been relative unknowns until recently, gaining influence in the areas of retail financial services, FinTech investment, technology, customer experience and innovation.

Each of the FinServ 25 received a required threshold number of votes from the Financial Brand Crowdsourcing Panel. The influencers selected were generous enough to provide a short quote regarding their perspective on the industry or a recommendation for the future that has been included in their profile.

Congratulations to all of these leaders who are making a significant impact on the banking industry through the sharing of ideas and visionary perspectives. According to their peers, they are all worth following.

The Top 25 Influencers in Banking

The FinServ 25 are recognized as the ‘who’s who’ for insight and thought leadership in financial services. In many instances, their active social media presence makes them easily accessible, and their regular writings and speaking provide insight into a very dynamic industry. While everyone who received a vote have influence, the Financial Brand Crowdsourcing Panel overwhelmingly believed the top 25 leaders were the ‘voice of banking’ today … and the most interesting to follow.

1. Brett King
The CEO and co-founder of Moven, King is also a bestselling author and Breaking Banks radio show host. Often provocative and sometimes polarizing, King was named “King of the Disruptors” by Banking Exchange magazine, with American Banker naming him Innovator of the Year in 2012. King has been regularly featured in trade and business publications as well as broadcasts, and has spoken to more than a quarter of a million finance professionals in over 40 countries in the last 3 years. He is currently working on his newest book, Augmented, due out this Fall. You can follow Brett’s thoughts on his Banking4Tomorrow blog.

“If you don’t like rapid, earth-shattering change and you work in a bank, you should start looking for a new job in another industry…“

See the full list: THE FINANCIAL BRAND