If it feels like innovation has been one of the hot themes of 2017 in the financial world, it’s because its true.

A new report shows that despite many companies struggling to maintain a culture of innovation, financial services companies are among the top three industries getting it right.

One of the factors helping them foster innovation is the establishment of innovation labs to promote and encourage creativity, as well as relations with new fintechs and tech companies.

According to Capgemini’s Digital Transformation Institute report released earlier this week, financial services firms were among the top three industries to set up innovation centers. The report shows there were 124 new innovation centers established since October 2016. Electronics and IT sector added the most innovation centers, followed by automotive and then financial services in the third place.

Surprisingly, in the U.S., Silicon Valley is no longer the hot spot for new labs, according to the report, which shows the East Coast gaining significant momentum in this area (even though Silicon Valley still had by far the most centers, 75). Texas had 16, Illinois and Georgia had 12, Massachusetts had 9 and New York 7.

Of course, another reason that the financial services has performed well in fostering innovation is its changing attitude towards partnering with tech and fintech players. The notion of buy v. build has been a strong topic among the financial services sector this year, with banks and traditional FIs preferring partnerships to M&A in order to promote innovation. (More on this here).

See the full report here.

To learn more about the latest developments in fintech partnerships and innovation, join us on March 5-6, 2018 at the Parc 55 in San Francisco for Bank Innovation 2018. Click here to register.