Candescent Positioned as a SPARK Leader and the Only Emerging Innovator in the QKS Group SPARK Matrix™: Digital Banking Platform, 2026

Candescent's recognition as the category's only Emerging Innovator validates its Intelligent Banking strategy and signals where the market is heading

ATLANTA, GA — July 16, 2026 — Candescent, defining the era of Intelligent Banking for banks and credit unions, today announced it has been named a SPARK Leader and the only provider recognized as an Emerging Innovator in the QKS Group SPARK Matrix™: Digital Banking Platform, 2026. The recognition affirms Candescent's innovation momentum as the company leads the shift to Intelligent Banking.

The QKS Group SPARK Matrix™ provides a comprehensive, research-based evaluation of digital banking platform providers, giving financial institutions a clear view of vendor capabilities, competitive position, and market direction.

Placement as a SPARK Leader recognizes Candescent's standing among the top providers in the digital banking platform market, while its distinction as the only Emerging Innovator highlights the company's differentiated trajectory and its role in advancing the category. For more than a decade, the industry's focus has been making banking digital. Candescent is defining and driving what comes next: Intelligent Banking, where unified experiences and AI-powered, real-time intelligence move customers and members from access to understanding, helping them know not just what happened, but what to do next.

That vision took center stage at AXIS 2026, Candescent's premier client and partner conference, where the company unveiled a coordinated wave of innovation across its Intelligent Banking Platform. Announcements included Votiv, a reimagined mobile experience built on proactive intelligence; Votiv for Business, a connected operating platform unifying onboarding, payments, servicing, and intelligence for businesses of every size; the Candescent Marketplace; and Forge, the company's developer experience platform. Together, these launches bring Intelligent Banking to life across consumer banking, business banking, and the partner and developer ecosystem, making clear that the era of Intelligent Banking is not coming — it is here.

"Candescent has moved quickly to differentiate itself in the digital banking platform market with a cohesive Intelligent Banking strategy, strong technology foundation, and clear product roadmap," said Akhilesh Vundavalli, Principal Analyst at QKS Group. "Its recognition as both a SPARK Leader and the only Emerging Innovator reflects the company's momentum in advancing more intelligent, connected, and extensible banking experiences for financial institutions."

"The industry spent well over a decade making banking digital. Our focus now is making it intelligent," said Jason Edelboim, CEO of Candescent. "Being named a SPARK Leader and the only Emerging Innovator reflects the progress we are driving. We are bringing our technology, teams, and clients together around a unified platform with real-time intelligence embedded across the experiences banks and credit unions rely on every day. This recognition reinforces the direction we are leading, in partnership with our clients, as we shape where banking goes next."

The SPARK Matrix recognition follows Candescent's recent naming as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: North America Retail Digital Banking Solutions 2025-2026 Vendor Assessment. Candescent serves more than 1,300 banks and credit unions representing more than 30 million registered users. This continued recognition highlights both the company’s established market position and the innovation trajectory of its Intelligent Banking Platform.

By leading the shift to Intelligent Banking, Candescent is helping financial institutions create lasting value through smarter ecosystems, deeper customer insight, and experiences that strengthen every relationship.

About Candescent: Candescent is defining the era of Intelligent Banking for banks and credit unions. Through its cloud-native Intelligent Banking Platform, Candescent enables institutions to unify data, channels, and real-time intelligence to deliver differentiated experiences, accelerate growth, and deepen customer and member relationships across account opening, consumer and business banking, and digital and branch experiences. Candescent serves more than 1,300 banks and credit unions representing more than 30 million registered users. For more information, visit www.candescent.com.

About QKS Group: QKS Group is a global analyst and advisory firm helping enterprises, technology vendors, and investors make trusted, data-driven decisions. Our portfolio spans the flagship SPARK Matrix™ evaluation framework, SPARK Plus™ analyst advisory platform, QKS Intelligence™ for market and competitive tracking, and QKS Community™ for CXO leaders and practitioners. All offerings are powered by a Human-Intelligence-driven framework and QKS’s closed-loop research methodology - integrating expert-led insights, quantitative modeling, and continuous validation to deliver credible, outcome-focused intelligence.