To become a top mortgage company, finance and its management are not the only things required. History indicates that innovation is the prime driving force in leading a mortgage company to the top.

A case in point is Citigroup, considered by many pundits to be the leading mortgage company worldwide today. Citigroup developed its roots in America it has been functioning since 1970 but has spread throughout the world in the last decade. It operates in 54 countries outside the US today, making most of its revenue from virgin territories; i.e. countries that have never considered mortgages as financial options before. Currently it has assets of $1.3 trillion, and its revenue last year was $108 billion. Citigroup leads the Forbes list of 2005 mortgage companies.

The Bank of America, one of the oldest banks in the US and currently the third-largest bank in the country, is another huge mortgage loan provider. It has today assets of $74 billion. Apart from mortgage loans, it also leads the country in providing loans to small businesses and in lending credit cards (especially after its merger with MBNC). Bank of America ranks second on the Forbes list of 2005 among mortgage companies.

Wells Fargo, the third in the current Forbes list of top mortgage companies, has about 1,000 home-mortgage branches all over the US and in some foreign countries. It mostly services sub-prime mortgage customers. It had revenue of over $33 million in 2005, and a major chunk of the revenue was through mortgage lending.

Wachovia is the fourth-largest mortgage bank in the US. Its assets in the last financial year were over $28 million. Wachovia banks purchase of Western Financial bank will make it the ninth-largest auto mortgage provider in the US.

Other top mortgage companies that figure in the Forbes 500 list of 2005 are BB&T, Golden West Financial, Marshall and Ilsley, M&T, AmSouth Bancorp, Popular, Synovus Financial, Zions Bancorp, Compass Bancshares and Commerce Bancorp.