RFi Group

What RFi Group does

RFi Group, now operating as RFI Global, is a privately held data and insights company founded in 2006 and headquartered in London, with a stated workforce of 101–250 employees and operations spanning Australia/New Zealand, Asia, North America, and EMEA. The firm positions itself as the only global data and insights company dedicated exclusively to financial services, serving enterprise clients across banking and payments — including Standard Chartered, HSBC, RBC, Commonwealth Bank, Lloyds Bank, Visa, Mastercard, Citibank, and Bank of China. Its go-to-market is sales-led, targeting banks, fintechs, and payment providers through a hybrid model that combines syndicated research with bespoke custom engagements, delivered via direct sales, thought-leadership content, and industry events.

The core product is the RFI Global Market Intelligence Platform, accessed through an authenticated Client Portal (clientportal.rfigroup.com). Underlying the platform is a proprietary database built from 200,000 consumer interviews and 60,000 business interviews conducted globally — the firm's primary data-collection methodology and its principal differentiator. Output formats include research reports, articles, podcasts, infographics, and digital magazines, organized by region (EMEA, ANZ, North America, Global) and topic (Consumer, Business & SME, Digital & Innovation). Adjacent products include The Banknote email newsletter and two annual proprietary benchmarking programs — the UK Banking & Finance Awards and the Australian Banking & Finance Awards — which double as data-collection flywheels and brand-building assets. The firm also holds ISO 27001 certification (via NQA, UKAS-accredited) for information security management.

RFI Global generates revenue primarily through recurring subscription-based engagements, spanning both syndicated research subscriptions and bespoke custom research, priced on a quote basis rather than through public list pricing. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales with content-led demand generation (LinkedIn, The Banknote newsletter, podcasts, research reports) and recurring industry awards events. The company is led by CEO Matt Lawrence, with Co-founder Alan Shields serving as Group COO, Ron Nayot as Chairman, Kate Wilson as research director, and Sarah Hollinshead as Group Head of Content. Diversis Capital led a fourth funding round in November 2020; no further capital events, M&A, or revenue figures have been publicly disclosed.

Name

RFi Group

Legal name

RFI Global

Website

https://rfigroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

RFi Group, operating as RFI Global, is a London-based data and insights company founded in 2006 that delivers syndicated and bespoke research exclusively to global financial-services clients, including Tier 1 banks and payment networks, using a proprietary database of 260,000 interviews.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Syndicated Research Subscriptions: Hybrid syndicated research solutions combining scale of syndicated research with bespoke custom insights. Delivered through client portal and consulting engagements with financial services companies worldwide.
2. Bespoke Custom Research: Custom research engagements providing tailored market intelligence for specific client needs in financial services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

RFi Group (RFI Global) is a global market research and insights company dedicated exclusively to financial services. It sells syndicated research subscriptions and bespoke custom research engagements to banks, fintechs, and payment providers worldwide, powered by a proprietary database of 200,000 consumer and 60,000 business interviews, and delivers insights through a secure client portal, research reports, a newsletter (The Banknote), podcasts, and benchmark award programs.

Product overview

RFI Global is a global data and insights company dedicated exclusively to financial services. The company operates a unified market intelligence platform delivering hybrid syndicated research solutions that combine the scale of large-scale syndicated studies (200,000 consumer interviews, 60,000 business interviews) with bespoke custom insights. The core offering is accessed through the Client Portal, supplemented by The Banknote newsletter. The company also runs award programs including the UK Banking & Finance Awards and Australian Banking and Finance Awards. Research is organized by region (EMEA, AU/NZ, North America, Global) and topic (Consumer, Business & SME, Digital & Innovation). Output formats include reports, articles, podcasts, infographics, and digital magazines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RFI Global Market Intelligence Platform (Hybrid Syndicated Research) Hybrid syndicated research offering that combines large-n syndicated studies with bespoke custom insights for financial services companies (banks, fintechs, payment providers), delivering actionable market intelligence on consumer and business banking behaviors across regions.
• RFI Global Client Portal Secure online client portal providing authenticated access to RFI Global research reports, data, and insights for enterprise financial services clients.
• The Banknote Newsletter Subscription email newsletter from RFI Global delivering the latest data, insights, and trend analyses on banking and financial services to subscribers.
• UK Banking & Finance Awards Annual awards program run by RFI Global that benchmarks and celebrates the best performers in UK banking and finance based on independent customer research.
• Australian Banking & Finance Awards Annual awards program run by RFI Global that recognizes innovation, customer experience, and financial excellence among Australian financial institutions, based on the firm's independent customer research.

Quantifiable outcome

• Commonwealth Bank dominated RFI Global's 2025 Australian Banking and Finance Awards, taking home 16 awards across consumer, business and private banking categories

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Coalition Greenwich: Coalition Greenwich (formerly Greenwich Associates, now part of CRISIL) is a leading research and benchmarking firm exclusively serving the financial services industry. It is one of the closest comparables to RFI Global given its FS-exclusive focus, syndicated benchmarking studies, and enterprise bank clients across capital markets, retail banking, and asset management.
• Celent: Celent is a research and advisory firm focused exclusively on financial services, particularly financial technology and innovation. Its research, advisory, and benchmarking model closely mirrors RFI Global's FS-exclusive insights business and targets overlapping enterprise banking and fintech buyer personas.
• Novantas: Novantas is a financial services research and analytics firm specializing in retail and commercial banking strategy. Its narrow focus on FS benchmarking, consumer insights, and pricing analytics makes it a strong comparable to RFI Global's research and syndicated offerings in the banking vertical.
• Curinos: Curinos is a financial services data and analytics firm serving retail and commercial banks with syndicated benchmarking and custom research offerings. Its focus on banking data products and consumer behavior research directly parallels RFI Global's model in the financial services vertical.
• J.D. Power: J.D. Power provides syndicated customer satisfaction research across multiple verticals including banking and payments. Its consumer research methodology, automotive-style awards programs, and enterprise financial services clients directly overlap with RFI Global's offerings and go-to-market motion.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Ipsos is one of the world's largest market research firms with a dedicated financial services practice. While broader in vertical scope than RFI Global, it competes for the same enterprise FS research budgets with significantly greater scale and geographic reach.
• Kantar: Kantar is a global market research and consulting firm with a financial services practice. It competes with RFI Global on syndicated and custom research for banks and payments companies but operates across many verticals with much larger headcount and technology investments.
• Forrester Research: Forrester is a major research and advisory firm serving technology and financial services buyers. Its syndicated research, advisory, and benchmarking business overlaps with RFI Global's offerings in the FS vertical, though Forrester's primary brand is anchored in technology research.
• Gartner: Gartner is the world's largest IT and business research firm with a financial services practice. It competes for FS research budgets through syndicated research, advisory, and benchmarking, though broader in scope and more technology-focused than RFI Global.
• Nielsen: Nielsen is a global measurement and data analytics firm with consumer research capabilities relevant to financial services. While its core focus is media and retail measurement, it competes for portions of FS insights budgets with substantially greater global scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rfiglobal
• Xx.com/rfigroup

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RFi Group