The push for going green takes on a new meaning in Metro Orlando, as the region has emerged as a national leader for the financial services and financial technology industry. Led by top industry players that have major divisions and operations based or housed in Orlando – such as Fiserv, Harland, FIS, The Bank of New York Mellon, Charles Schwab and Chase – this ‘most wired U.S. city’ is home to over 50,000 financial services and financial technology workers. Perhaps even more noteworthy is the fact that Orlando is among the top metros in the nation when it comes to employment growth in this industry. From 2003 to 2007, Orlando’s financial service employment grew 13 percent, while FiTech employment grew 30 percent.

Dominating industry growth here are companies in the key segments of software development, banking and finance, investments and insurance. And companies such as Fiserv and The Bank of New York Mellon have expanded numerous times, bringing in sister companies and subsidiaries. Additionally, Florida is second only to New York in the number of FINRA securities licenses that are critical to companies such as The Bank of New York Mellon and Schwab.

The industry is bolstered overall by a world-class telecom infrastructure, a strong and ever-growing technology base (which includes more than 1,000 software and information technology businesses), and a swelling number of knowledge and multi-language workers coming from our community colleges and universities. In particular, the University of Central Florida, now the fifth largest university in the country, granting more than 800 economics, accounting and finance degrees annually and boasting top-ranked engineering and computer science programs.

Rounding out Orlando’s competitive edge for the industry is its central location with global access – one that provides easy air access to nearly all major U.S. and international financial centers.