Mobile International Financial Remittance Vendor Matrix

ABI Research evaluates vendors on the basis of Innovation and Implementation by selecting multiple criteria related to product/company characteristics that serve as proxies for the vendors' performance in these two areas. Vendors are assigned numerical scores that are aggregated and analyzed to provide overall rankings for each vendor on the Innovation and Implementation axes. For the evaluation of mobile international remittance vendors, relevant criteria included seven categories under implementation and four categories under innovation.

Implementation:
The seven categories are: Bank relationships (both the relative size and number of banks they have relationships with), MNO relationships (both the relative size and number they have relationships with), solution breadth (does the vendor offer solutions by SMS, mobile Internet, and mobile application?), complementary products (products related to mobile international remittance that a prospect might be interested in, such as domestic p-to-p, mobile top-up, mobile banking, bill pay, mobile commerce, etc.), partnerships (distribution partners beyond banks or MNOs, such as device manufacturers, IT companies, etc.), financial and organizational health, and supporting products and services (products and services that facilitate mobile international remittance so the company does not need to partner [provides some cost and information advantage such as an SMS gateway, GRX, or integration services]).

Innovation:
The three categories are: SMS -- Functionality and Security, Mobile Internet -- Functionality and Security, and Mobile Applications – Functionality. The solutions are evaluated based on their breadth of mobile international remittance features and functionality, including any knowledge about ease of activation.

Vendors receive a “rating score” for each ABI Research–defined criterion under Implementation and Innovation. These scores range from 0-100 and are based on available information as well as ABI Research assumptions. The number of criteria for Implementation and Innovation may vary; however, this does not impact vendor ranking.

The rating scores assigned for each criterion are added to determine a “raw total score” for Implementation and Innovation. A mathematical formula is then applied to adjust for the 0-9 rating system and the number of criteria, so vendors can be positioned along the x- and y-axes (with a maximum score of 100 for Implementation and Innovation). The mathematical formula does not impact vendor ranking. There is also a weighting system used, so different criteria carry different weightings.

Rankings



After individual scores are established for Innovation and Implementation using the above criteria, an overall company score is established using the Root Mean Square (RMS) method:




The resulting overall scores are then ranked and used for percentile comparisons.

The RMS method, in comparison with a straight summation or average of individual innovation and implementation values, rewards companies for standout performance.

For example, using this method a company with an innovation score of 9 and an implementation score of 1 would score considerably higher than a company with a score of 5 in both areas, despite the mean score being the same. ABI Research believes this is appropriate as the goal of these matrices is to highlight those companies that stand out from the others.