We saw evidence of this demand from our recent InFocus client event, which was heavily attended and expanded its reach virtually this year to nearly 40 countries and which drove a 25%-plus increase in demand for FIS solutions.
Our strong new sales performance has increased our backlog by 6% organically during the third quarter.
And our pipeline is exceptionally strong, up more than 30% year-over-year as we continue to grow and win new business.
As of the end of the third quarter, we are generating $150 million in annual run rate revenue synergies and we have $60 million more currently being implemented with our clients.
This puts us in great shape to exceed our $200 million revenue synergy target before the end of the year.
Adjusted EBITDA margins expanded 340 basis points sequentially and 30 basis points year-over-year during the third quarter as we continue to harness the operating leverage inherent in our business.
By investing approximately $1 billion annually in new product development and R&D, we are bringing tomorrow's innovation forward now.
They recently asked us to help them to drive data and insights as well as improved acceptance across their network of more than 900 dealerships.
Thousands of financial institutions, representing more than 7,000 card loyalty programs, are enrolled in the FIS Premium Payback ecosystem.
As it turns out, we have signed more than 15 significant new bank relationships, adding well over 1,000 branches to our partner distribution network in the first year.
We signed more than 30 partners there already and are finalizing agreements with several more.
In banking, we added another top 30 financial services firm to our growing roster of large client wins.
This quarter, we signed an agreement with a top 50 bank, who chose us because our Digital One and mobile banking solutions will enable them to rapidly innovate, further differentiate their consumer user experience and increase their speed to market for new products.
In merchant, we signed a top 100 luxury retailer, who chose to partner with us because of our end-to-end capabilities, including our debit routing, e-commerce and differentiated omni-channel technology.
In integrated payments, we signed two of the world's leading dealer management system software providers, one in the U.S. and one in the U.K. Between the 2, it will provide us with distribution to thousands of dealerships through these leading ISVs.
Our pipelines are full with more than 30% in banking and capital markets and remain the largest that I've ever seen.
And with our backlog consistently growing in the mid- to upper single digits for multiple quarters in a row, I feel really good about our ability to accelerate revenue growth next year, consistent with the 7% to 9% range we have been messaging.
On a consolidated basis, revenue increased 13% to $3.2 billion, up 1% organically, which represents a marked improvement from the 7% decline that we experienced last quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.4 billion with margins expanding 340 basis points sequentially and 30 basis points year-over-year to 42%.
As a result of our improving revenue growth and profitability, we achieved adjusted earnings per share of $1.42 for the third quarter.
We have achieved $150 million in revenue synergies as we continue to see really strong traction with our Premium Payback solution.
We have also achieved cost synergies of over $700 million, including $385 million in operating expense savings, contributing to our adjusted EBITDA margin expansion.
Banking Solutions revenue increased 3% organically to $1.5 billion.
Excluding these, organic revenue growth was closer to 6% for banking, which is more consistent with our strong growth in recurring revenue.
Adjusted EBITDA was $653 million for banking, representing 220 basis points of sequential margin expansion to 43%.
Revenue was flat on an organic basis at $1 billion.
This represents 14 points of improvement over 2Q when normalizing for the U.S. tax deadline shift as we continue to win market share, particularly in our e-commerce, integrated payments and merchant bank referral channels.
Adjusted EBITDA in the segment was $487 million, representing over 700 basis points of sequential margin improvement as we saw a material rebound in our higher-margin transaction processing revenue.
Capital markets revenue has increased 3% year-to-date on an organic basis, demonstrating more than one point of acceleration compared to the prior year period.
Capital markets declined 1% in organic revenue growth for the third quarter and was primarily due to quarterly differences in the timing of license renewals.
Recurring revenue continues to grow strongly and new sales for our SaaS-based recurring revenue solutions increased by nearly 50% during the third quarter, reinforcing our confidence for continued acceleration in revenue growth during 2021 and beyond.
Adjusted EBITDA was $286 million, representing a consistent 46% margin with last quarter, as capital markets teams continue to manage cost and execute at a very high level.
We continue to see improvement throughout the third quarter with volume and transaction growth exiting the quarter at 6% and 3%, respectively.
E-commerce transactions increased 30% in the quarter, excluding travel and airlines.
We ended the quarter with a total debt balance of about $20 billion and a weighted average interest rate of 1.6%.
This quarter, we generated $866 million, representing a 27% conversion of revenue.
Capital expenditures were $263 million or 8% of revenue.
As a result, liquidity increased again to $4.2 billion, up by more than $700 million quarter-over-quarter.

Summary:
As a result of our improving revenue growth and profitability, we achieved adjusted earnings per share of $1.42 for the third quarter.