Fiserv to Up R&D Budget in 2014, Exec Says
Fiserv Inc., the $13 billion market cap fintech company, is likely to increase it research and development budget in 2014, a senior executive told Bank Innovation.
Teri Carstensen, president of Bank Solutions, the Fiserv unit that handles core banking systems for 2,800 banks with less than $30 billion of assets, said R&D would increase next year, although she did not offer additional details. Fiserv does not delineate its R&D spend from its overall expenses.
Expenses totaled $925 million last quarter at the company.
Carstensen said R&D at Fiserv right now centers on the following three broad directives:
- Products that grow revenue;
- Products and services that improve efficiency; and
- Products related to necessity, in other words regulatory/compliance, security and the like.
Interestingly, it is the regulatory environment that Carstensen said will be a driver of Fiserv’s core banking revenue growth.
“Regulators want a deeper vendor relationship,” she said. “The trend is institutions are looking for less providers.”
Carstensen said that trend is playing into Fiserv’s hand, and will yield growth in the forthcoming years. Even though the number of banks is fixed, “we are gaining marketshare,” she said.
