Press Release

BankServ honored with trio of prestigious awards for rapid growth

October 20, 2004 — For the second consecutive year, San Francisco-based financial services provider BankServ has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing corporations in America — this time by a trio of national and regional business publications.

As a result of its growth between 1999 and 2003, BankServ earned its second straight appearance in the Inc. 500, a list of the 500 fastest-growing private businesses in the United States compiled by Inc. Magazine. With a 218 percent annual growth rate on revenues of $10.1 million, the company came in at No. 144 on this year’s list — no small feat, according to President and CEO David F. Kvederis, considering that relatively few companies repeat in the ranking.

"It’s possible to win an award for rapid growth by having one good year," Kvederis said, "but to do it twice in a row takes staying power and a solid business plan. Less than a third of the Inc. 500 winners have been on the list before, so it’s exciting to be included in such select company."

In addition to the Inc. 500 award, BankServ was also named to the Deliotte Technology Fast 500, which ranks the growth of all publicly and privately held technology firms in North America over a five-year period. By posting 1,090 percent growth since 1999, BankServ placed 195th on the Fast 500, just behind software giant VeriSign and computer hardware maker NVIDIA. BankServ was also awarded the 58th spot on the San Francisco Business Times’ Fast 100 list, a list of the 100 fastest growing private companies in Northern California.

"With this system fully up and running, any SWIFT member in the country, from the largest to the smallest, will be able to send international money transfers through us," Kvederis said.

Kvederis credits BankServ’s success to the patience and adaptability that allowed the firm to completely reinvent itself into a profitable business at the same time when many Bay Area technology companies were closing their doors. Founded in 1996 with the idea of electronically depositing customers’ checks from grocery stores, BankServ abandoned its original business model in the face of an onslaught from credit and debit-card technology. But Kvederis, himself a pioneer of the original Direct Deposit system of the 1980s, teamed up with COO Peter Hosokawa and other finance industry experts to remake the company into a leading processor of all forms of electronic funds transfers that banks around the world use for their back-room operations and for resale to their cash management customers.

Today, BankServ boasts over 300 banking clients in 52 countries. "Our growth is a direct result of listening to customer needs, developing products to fill those needs and then providing the highest level of customer care," Kvederis said. "Receiving not one but three awards is an affirmation that our customer-oriented philosophy is paying off."