Accenture Named Top Firm for Procurement Outsourcing in Financial Services Industry, According to Everest Group

NEW YORK.- Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been named the leader in procurement outsourcing services within the financial services industry by Everest Research Institute, part of Everest Group, a leading global consulting firm specializing in sourcing strategy and implementation. Accenture topped the list because of the company’s experience, breadth of service offerings and 95 percent market share by annualized contract value.

A total of 17 major service providers across the globe were evaluated for the report, entitled, Procurement Outsourcing in Financial Services: From Wall Street to Martin Place.” As part of the study, Everest Group reviewed multi-year contracts that involved the outsourcing of three or more activities ranging from sourcing to payment.

Procurement outsourcing is considered a “gold mine” for financial services institutions because of the sheer amount of savings that can be realized, said Katrina Menzigian, vice president of Everest Research Institute.

“Our research indicates that procurement outsourcing can save a $10 billion financial services organization between $50 and $100 million a year,” she said. “We believe that banks, capital markets firms and insurers, confronted by unprecedented cost and profitability pressures, will become major adopters of this practice.”

According to Everest Group, financial services institutions typically outsource procurement to help achieve savings targets and accelerate returns on investments in their procurement technologies. In addition, procurement outsourcing can foster efficiencies of greater centralization, as the procurement operations of most large financial firms are highly fragmented across geographies and business units.

According to Accenture, procurement outsourcing has contributed significant value to financial services firms.

“Procurement savings is a critical shareholder value lever in today’s economic environment,” said Terry Moore, a managing director in Accenture’s Financial Services operating group in North America. “Our experience shows that even the most well run financial institutions can quickly gain accretive, material savings through new operational strategies and procurement BPO services. These strategies and services optimize vendor contracts, automate procurement processes, and enforce spending and invoicing rules.”