Welcome to the 2026 IDC FinTech Real Results

How do we submit a case study?

The submission form for IDC FinTech Real Results can be found by Clicking Here.

All submissions are to be sent to IDC using the approved and supplied Excel spreadsheet. IDC will not accept forms in any other format (e.g. WORD, PDF, etc). No formatting changes to this submission document will be allowed.  Any non-compliant submissions will be disqualified.

The submission spreadsheet will have further instructions on how to fill it out properly.  All entries must be submitted in English.

Who can submit a case study for Real Results?

Any software, hardware, or services firm that supplies technology or services to a firm that provides financial services to financial institutions may submit a case study.

Who is not eligible to submit for Real Results?

Submissions from technology arms or subsidiaries of financial institutions will not be considered. Likewise, a technology provider that supports an intermediate company that does not directly provide technology or services to a financial institution that provides financial services to consumer or business customers cannot submit a case study.

What are you looking for in the submission?

The IDC FinTech Rankings Real Results program evaluate case studies submitted by technology providers serving the financial services industry (banking, capital markets, and non-health/medical insurance), in cooperation with the involved financial institution, demonstrating the real-life, measurable benefits from the implementation of technology in a production environment at the financial institution.

For example: “Implementing a fraud detection system at Newfound Bank that decreased the false positive rate from 10% to 3%”

Case studies must state clear, measured benefits that were achieved after implementation. Presumptive statements like “will allow the bank to save x%…” will not qualify for this program.

As a guide, focus on an “after” benefit. Comparing measurements before vs after will improve the score the submission will receive.

IDC Financial Insights will only evaluate projects that were implemented in production environments in calendar year 2024 or 2025.

Do not “cut & paste” information from marketing collateral as this type of content is not specific to the case study.  Fields in the submission form are marked with word-length limits.

In addition to the measurable results produced by the project, IDC will also assess the use of AI (traditional ML, generative, agentic) in the project and will be a weighting factor in the evaluation.

What is the deadline for submitting our entry?

The deadline for submission is Friday, July 31st, 2026.

How do we send it to IDC?

Upon completion of the entry form, save the file in the format of

“Your company name – category – institution name”

For Example:

“Tiger Technology – Omni Experience Customer Engagement – First Savings Bank.xlsx”

And email it to: fintechrankings@idc.com with “2026 Real Results Entry”” in the subject line.

How are submissions evaluated?

Submissions will be evaluated by a panel including IDC Financial Insights analysts and individuals holding senior positions at prominent financial institutions as appropriate.  As with the IDC Financial Insights Innovation Awards in AP, we will enforce the highest level of transparency and impartiality in the evaluation process, while maintaining confidentiality.

For each category, the judges will evaluate the case studies for these criteria:

• Response to market – What existing gaps in customer, operational, and/or regulatory requirements does the submission address?
• Business Case- How was the business case for the submission justified and measured?
• Use of AI – How did the use of AI create business, operational, or IT value?
• Quantified Benefits – What realized business benefits were accomplished?

What case study categories will be evaluated?

IDC Financial Insights has aligned the Real Results case study categories with our continuing leadership in advising our institutions with strategic technology initiatives that address current needs, challenges, and opportunities in financial services.

The Real Results categories are:

• Omni-Experience Customer Engagement
• Next-Generation Payments
• Treasury & Trade Transformation
• Capital Markets Transformation
• Insurance Transformation
• Digital Trust & Stewardship (includes security, compliance, fraud, and risk)
• Infrastructure Modernization

IDC will select one case study for each category to award as a best practice as well as an overall best practice award based on total score from all of the case studies evaluated from the first 8 categories, no separate submission is needed.

Can we submit more than one case study?

Technology providers may submit multiple case studies but are limited to ONE submission per category. If your organization submits more than one case study per category, IDC will disqualify one of the submissions at its discretion.

Submissions must represent the category well.  If a project is fundamentally in one category, like customer engagement, it will not be considered under a different category even if submitted as such.

Case studies must be limited to 1 project at 1 institution, not a generic description of a platform or solution applied at multiple institutions.

Validation with the financial institution.

In the submission spreadsheet, we ask that you provide the name, title, and contact information for an individual that was directly involved in the project at the financial institution. That person must be available to speak with an IDC Financial Insights analyst to validate the details of the case study (anticipated 20–30-minute conversation).

The submission also requires a quote from the client. Failure to provide a quote will lead to disqualification of the submission.

How will IDC use submission information and/or name of the client?

There is a field in the Submission Form that asks if the institution and provider agree to share the case study in any potential IDC Financial Insights report.  Approval does not affect qualification or judging of the case study.   If the institution agrees, IDC reserves the right, but does not guarantee, to include the case study in any reports in the future. The institution may agree to be included as an anonymous entity, in which case IDC may create a report, or include the case study in a larger report, that provides a summary of the case study but does not name the institution.  In all cases, no details of the technologies, processes, or methodologies involved in the implementation will be shared.

Any IDC report produced using the information submitted for Real Results evaluation will be available only to subscribers of the pertinent IDC Financial Insights program.  Commercial reprints would be available on a case-by-case basis.

Unless specifically asked to withhold that information, final announcement of award recipients will include the names of the vendor and institution, the business challenge that the solution category solved, and the relevant metrics achieved by the implementation.  IDC may also publish the case study as a report for its clients unless the vendor specifically asks that the case study details not be shared.

When will IDC release the winners of the Real Results Program?

IDC will publish the list of Real Results winners on its website on September 7, 2026, and the case study or studies may be featured in IDC reports unless the vendor specifically requests otherwise.

Will there be options for winning entries to promote through press releases, a quote from an analyst, and digital assets like logos and reports?

All Real Result winning entries will receive a communication guideline kit that will explain what is allowed and options for promotion of being a Real Results winner.

Disqualifications

Non-adherence to the above listed guidelines will be subject to disqualification.

We still have questions, where should I go next?

If you still have a question, please send an email to jsilva@idc.com and we will gladly provide you more information.