Fintech
Georgia is a world leader in FinTech
Thanks to the presence of an unprecedented number of financial technology industry leaders, Georgia is one of the world leaders. When you stop for a moment and think about how interconnected the world is, your mind can get confused. While language, culture, history and many other factors still separate people, the closely intertwined economies of nearly every nation in the world have created an unprecedented atmosphere of mutual cooperation and international interest. A big part of this international economic reality is the use of technology to facilitate financial transactions and investments in near real time, regardless of where in the world the money originates or ends up. To illustrate, let’s consider a powerful case study that could only be observed in the hyperconnected 21st century: the rise of financial technology (FinTech) in the state of Georgia.
Global transactions pass through Georgia
“New York and London may be world leaders in financial services, but Atlanta is the unsung leader, so far, in financial technology,” writes Tom Groenfeldt for Forbes magazinenoting that 70 percent of all global financial transactions pass through companies based in Metro Atlanta. Groenfeldt adds that Atlanta developers have nicknamed the city Transaction Alley because of the presence of payment processing leaders like First Data, WorldPay, Global Payments and TSYS. Other global FinTech leaders like FIS and Fiserv, while not headquartered in Georgia, maintain large operations there due to easy access to a skilled, experienced workforce and consistently favorable infrastructure. These optimal conditions benefit established global FinTech leaders as well as new disruptive startups looking to innovate and grow. For example, Atlanta-based credit reporting giant Equifax recently developed a new data analytics environment that uses big data to deliver actionable insights that previously took weeks to generate in minutes. Other smaller startups disrupting FinTech from their Georgia bases include Groundfloor (real estate crowdfunding and investing), Kabbage (small business finance), Prime Revenue (financial supply chain optimization) and BitPay (Bitcoin payment processing). Consider:
- The top 50 Georgia-based FinTech companies generate more than $72 billion in annual revenue.
- 6 of the 10 largest U.S. payment processing companies are headquartered in the state.
- More than 30,000 professionals in Georgia (and more than 130,000 globally) are employed by Georgia-based FinTech companies.
- These companies process over 118 billion transactions (over $2 trillion) annually, supporting approximately 4 million merchants.
Why Georgia FinTech Companies?
“Smart regulation and a civic partnership between industry and government have benefited the business environment in Georgia,” concluded Professor Sadheer Chava of Georgia Tech, “and can be a bigger catalyst for the future.” Additionally, the broader benefits of living and working in Georgia continue to attract top talent from across the country and world. The low cost of living, the largest and busiest airport in the world (Hartsfield-Jackson International (which puts 80 percent of the U.S. population within two hours of Atlanta), old-fashioned Southern hospitality, and an excellent quality of life are among the benefits that allow the more than 100 FinTech companies based in Georgia to build a thriving workforce that can continue to fuel growth. The growth of the FinTech industry is supported by the Georgia Center of Innovation for Information Technology, which aims to create beneficial connections for FinTech companies from a statewide perspective. The organization partners with a large high-tech university system, government agencies, and other businesses within the state to help companies find the resources they need to grow and stay competitive. “The Innovation Center serves as a link to everything a company needs to grow and thrive, and it works to create the connections that a company needs to be successful. Georgia is unique in that regard; there aren’t many other states that do that,” Whitley said. Thanks in large part to these organized efforts, the FinTech industry continues to grow and thrive in Georgia. 