FinServ 25: The Most Influential Voices In Banking

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.

21. Tom Groenfeldt
Tom Groenfeldt is Tom Groenfeldt is a freelance reporter who focuses largely on finance and technology including trading, risk, back office systems, big data, analytics, retail banking, international banking and e-commerce. His work appears in several publications, including Forbes.com in the U.S. and Banking Technology in London.

“Is it just my imagination or is the pace of change in financial technology speeding up?”

22. Duena Blomstrom
Duena Blomstrom is an independent digital banking consultant, FinTech specialist, entrepreneur and a mentor for Startupbootcamp and Techstars. Previously, Blomstrom was the head of sales and marketing for Meniga with a commitment to the customer experience philosophy of ’emotional banking.’ Blomstrom is very active in social media, with Next Bank and curates her own digital banking blog.

“If we want FinTech to reach the potential we all got excited about, we owe it to the industry to crusade for replacing consultancy-speak with real talk and for forcing bankers to remember they are consumers too and have strong feelings about their money.”

23. Peter Vander Auwera
Peter Vander Auwera is the co-founder of Innotribe: SWIFT‘s innovation initiative. He is the main architect and content creator of Innotribe at Sibos and a TEDx speaker. Vander Auwera also curates a very active blog that covers his perspectives on financial innovation, technology and corporate values.

“Get out of the innovation sandbox.”

24. Mike Dudas
mike-dudas Mike Dudas is the co-founder and chief revenue office of Button, a firm that helps mobile app developers and marketers create better user experiences. Before Button, Dudas was the head of Mobile BD for Braintree/Venmo, helping grow the company to $12 bil in overall payments volume and $4 bil in mobile payments volume annually.

“The unimaginably rapid growth of mobile commerce has relegated discussion of mobile wallets and payments to a sideshow.”

25. William Sullivan
With over 15 years of strategy and transformation consulting experience within the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Bill Sullivan is the global head of Capgemini’s Financial Services Market Intelligence Group. Sullivan has worked extensively in the financial services industry, with a focus on wealth management, retail banking and insurance. He is a frequent industry speaker, connects through social media and leads the development of the World Retail Banking Report and World Wealth Report.

“Change in the financial services industry is accelerating and banks need strong leadership committed to digitize the entire organization, simplify systems/processes to become more agile, and better leverage insights and data to deliver customized personal experience to an increasingly demanding client base.”

Also Deserving Mention

While not in the top 25, the following individuals are also active in social media, appear at many industry events as thought leaders and were considered worthy of special consideration by the Financial Brand Crowdsourcing Panel.

Tom Noyes
Tom is currently CEO of Commerce Signals. Noyes has over 20 years experience in banking, payments, venture finance, eCommerce, mobile and product innovation. He has worked with leading banks, mobile operators, payment networks, and regulators globally to bring innovation to consumers. Tom provides unique perspective based upon his global experience as a senior executive with Starpoint LLP, Citibank, Oracle, GartnerGroup as well as start-ups. His very well thought out perspectives are often published on his personal blog.

Neff Hudson
As vice president for emerging channels and business leader for USAA’s award-winning mobile and tablet banking implementations, Neff Hudson oversees innovation and strategy development for emerging channels, including voice, video, social commerce and emerging payments. He is a highly sought after speaker and alternative channel practitioner.

Christophe Langlois
Christophe Langlois is the social media senior managing consultant for IBM, with a key focus on the European financial services industry. Known for his very insightful Visible Banking blog and his involvement in dozens of trade association events, Langlois is one of the foremost authorities on social media in the banking industry.