The pace of technological developments across industries and geographies has never been as high as it is now, and this year’s Technology Awards submissions are a reflection of the wide variety of challenges that financial institutions can tackle with innovation.

With more than 200 submissions across 17 regional and product categories, this year’s awards set a new record and provide us with an unparalleled view of some of the boldest ideas and radical improvements out there.

Emphasising the pivotal role of technological developments in the financial industry, the Transformation Project category was by far the most popular, followed by AI and Payments. It is also telling that, similarly to last year’s awards, the Transformation Project category winner also secured the Global prize.

This year’s winners have demonstrated exceptional creativity in addressing challenges and inefficiencies and seizing emerging opportunities. Unsurprisingly, many solutions are underpinned by generative AI platforms, which offer significant improvements in chatbot interfaces and processing of large amounts of data.

While many of the projects submitted for the awards had to do with banks’ mobile apps, internal innovation and productivity improvements for employees appear to be as important as customer-facing upgrades in the financial industry. From cyber security innovation to chatbot platforms for customer support agents, this year’s entries showed how much efficiency can be gained through digital innovation.

Another trend shown by this year’s submissions is that financial companies are increasingly taking on long-standing issues affecting the industry, streamlining processes that long resisted automation and digitisation. These are often entrenched in business-to-business and enterprise banking systems where the stakes tend to be higher than in consumer applications. While hard to tackle, these projects often yield the most rewards and move the needle in efficiency and customer satisfaction.

A common thread in the banking industry across the world is the topic of financial inclusion. Creative solutions enabled by digital innovation allow bringing financial services to underserved communities and people who are less comfortable with traditional banking interfaces. In addition to that, creating products for children and fostering healthy financial habits from a young age is growing in importance.

Overall, we saw submissions of exceptionally high quality, and determining the winners whose projects best demonstrated innovation, utility, and transformation was not an easy task.

Judges

Francesco Burelli, partner at Arkwright Consulting, with more than 20 years of experience in digital strategy and transformation

Lesly Goh, World Bank senior technology adviser and former World Bank group chief technology officer

Bryan Zheng Zhang, co-founding director of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and a non-executive director at the UK Financial Conduct Authority

Andrii Degeler, technology correspondent, The Banker

Aliya Shibli, senior reporter, The Banker

Regional winners

Global

Winner: BBVA

A multinational bank serving more than 77mn customers across Europe, North America, South America and the Asia-Pacific region, BBVA has shown a commendable effort in implementing cutting-edge technology in its operations. The institution has introduced a global data platform, ADA (Analytics + Data + AI), which won this year’s Transformation Project award, and built a series of innovative initiatives on this foundation.

Following an agreement with OpenAI — reportedly the first of its kind among European banks — BBVA deployed 3,000 ChatGPT Enterprise licenses and identified some 1,000 scalable use cases for the tool. More than 3,300 BBVA employees use OpenAI’s models, with 85 per cent doing so regularly and 80 per cent reporting time savings of at least two hours per week.

To support AI-driven innovation, the bank has launched the AI Factory, a centre of excellence reaching from Mexico to Turkey, and currently counts more than 400 experts. Its staff research the latest AI trends, creating code for its Mercury library, for use by some BBVA 100 data scientists.

The bank leveraged generative AI in the latest update of its virtual assistant, Blue, which “lives” in the BBVA mobile app. Blue can process 3,000 different queries and provides a more natural, human-like experience for the app users. The bank’s AI experts have paid significant attention to guardrails and security protocols that ensure Blue is always grounded in the existing rules and policies, and that user data always stays protected and never leaves BBVA’s safe digital environment.

Unlike many other chatbot-based solutions, Blue is touted to be able to hold on to the context of a conversation, even if the user digresses mid-process. It is also aware of previous interactions and the customer’s financial situation, and can provide well-tailored advice from the get-go.

On the enterprise front, BBVA has developed a new platform that enables near real-time execution of mass payments, reducing processing times from hours to seconds — on par with the experience private customers have grown to expect. This is available across Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Spain for domestic payments and payroll processing.

The bank has embraced innovation in its sustainability effort with its Energy Advisor app feature, launched in Spain with the plan to expand to other BBVA markets in the near term. It predicts, presents and analyses the user’s household electricity and gas consumption and suggests ways to lower their utility bills by installing, for instance, solar panels or a heat pump. The advice is based on factors like climate zone, building codes and energy certification, and the client is directly presented with the potential cost savings estimation.

“At BBVA, technology only makes sense if it’s used to support our customers’ needs,” says David Puente, the bank’s global head of retail client solutions. “These initiatives … are just a glimpse of what’s to come. We are taking our AI-driven transformation to the next level — embracing a new way to support our customers in their personal journeys and business endeavours — to stay ahead of the curve and have a profound impact on the financial services industry.“

In 2024, the bank leaned into the digital-only banking model that it pioneered in Italy. By the end of 2024, it had achieved its 2026 target of 600,000 customers. Building on that success, the institution now plans to enter the German market in the coming months.

Overall, digital channels accounted for 66 per cent of the bank’s new client acquisition in 2024. Mobile penetration across this user base has hit 75 per cent, while monthly logins and transaction volume grew two times and 2.5 times, respectively, compared to 2020.

More recently, BBVA became the first bank in Spain to receive authorisation to offer custody and trading services for ether and bitcoin — something the lender is already doing in Switzerland and Turkey. It will also be among the first institutions to pilot the Visa tokenised asset platform later in 2025, effectively paving the way to offering the crypto flexibility and things like smart contracts for traditional currencies.

The bank has earned top net promoter score rankings in several markets, placing first in Spain, Mexico and Peru, and among the top three in all other markets where it operates.

Africa

Winner: FNB Namibia

FNB Namibia has gained a leading position in digital banking in Africa with a strategy focused on enhancing financial inclusion and delivering innovative solutions for customers across the country. The bank has successfully expanded access to banking services for underbanked and rural populations through several pioneering initiatives launched over the past year.

Most notably, FNB Namibia’s CashPlus initiative has transformed banking access in underserved communities by creating a network of local merchant agents who provide essential banking services without requiring a bank branch or ATM. This way, customers in remote areas can deposit and withdraw cash, pay utility bills and access other banking services through trusted local businesses. This set-up simultaneously promotes financial inclusion and supports rural economic development.

The bank has also introduced DigiPlus, touted as Namibia’s first fully digital account, which further reduces the need for branch visits by allowing customers to open and manage accounts entirely online with no monthly fees. Again, the initiative has been particularly beneficial for people living in remote areas who previously faced challenges accessing traditional banking services.

To further the focus on the customers who may not be comfortable with conventional banking processes, FNB’s ChatPay feature significantly streamlines user experience around money transfers. This is achieved by enabling users to make and request payments directly within the banking app using the chat function. By removing the need for bank account numbers, this innovation facilitates transactions through a familiar messaging interface, making banking more intuitive.

Underlying all of FNB’s services is SmartInContact, a secure communication platform that ensures the clients’ digital safety as they manage their online transactions. Leveraging cross-channel and step-up authentication, the platform creates a seamless way of approving and managing payments in the app without compromising security.

“This prestigious recognition validates our mission to drive inclusive, innovative banking that empowers every Namibian,” says Conrad Dempsey, CEO of FNB Namibia. “We believe that through technology, we are transforming access to financial services, making Namibia more globally competitive, and strengthening communities.”

Asia-Pacific

Winner: Nabil Bank

Nabil Bank has successfully transformed from a corporate-focused institution into a comprehensive retail bank through its strategic five-year plan — culminating this year with digital banking as the cornerstone. The Nepalese bank has focused on re-engineering legacy paper-based processes and rebuilding customer experience through innovative digital solutions. The transformation has been built around the nBank app, launched in 2022, and complemented by the browser-based solution nBank web in 2023.

Over the past year, Nabil Bank has enhanced its video know-your-customer system with an unassisted flow that streamlines the account opening process. This improvement allows customers to upload necessary documents before joining a video call with an agent, reducing average call duration from 25–30 minutes to just 10–15 minutes, and significantly decreasing queue waiting times.

In October 2024, Nabil Bank introduced the first open banking initiative in Nepal by integrating its nRemit remittance platform with Hamro Patro, a popular local super app with more than 10mn downloads. This partnership enables users to send remittances from abroad to any Nepalese bank account using international Mastercard or Visa cards, with funds received in real-time.

The bank has also expanded its marketplace capabilities, delivering on its vision of eventually building nBank into a super app. Moving beyond simple external ecommerce links placed in the app, Nabil Bank had started to build an ecosystem for its clients through working closely with merchants. The bank has embedded its checkout modules within CG Digital and Trip Turbo, and integrated a single sign-on checkout module for RhinoPass, a food delivery app, allowing customers to order and pay using their nBank PIN or biometrics.

Through these innovations, Nabil Bank has demonstrated the practical application of open banking and embedded finance in the Nepalese market, positioning itself as a technology pioneer in the region. It has also started the next five-year plan with an aspiration to become “the undisputed champion in the digital banking industry of Nepal”.

“By embracing technology as a catalyst for innovation, Nabil leads with a strategy focused on transformation over mere adaptation. Through AI, data analytics, and the pioneering nBank App, we’re enhancing efficiency, security, and personalisation,” says Manoj Kumar Gyawali, Nabil Bank’s acting chief executive.

“As Nepal’s financial ecosystem evolves, Nabil remains at the forefront driving agility, resilience, and empowerment through technology.”

Central and Eastern Europe

Winner: OTP Bank

In the past year, OTP Bank has focused on expanding digital service offerings, while strengthening security measures to create a safe online environment for the customers. With digitally active clients exceeding 65 per cent at OTP Bank Hungary by the end of 2024, the bank has strategically positioned its mobile platform as the central point of customer interaction.

The bank partnered with SEON to implement an adaptive fraud-prevention solution that employs real-time data processing, digital footprint analysis and device identification technology to manage fraud risks throughout the customer journey. This system has prevented approximately €6mn in potential fraud losses over the past year while maintaining a positive user experience.

Building on this, OTP developed the multi-element anti-fraud toolkit that has won this year’s award in the cyber security category. It includes the Webcrawler and Honeypot system that was instrumental in shutting down more than 1,000 imposter OTP websites in the past year; the “OTP is calling you” feature to verify bank calls through the mobile app; and a “panic button” that allows customers to block all digital channels with a single click.

Another recent major digital initiative by OTP Bank is the addition of the nationwide Qvik instant payment solution that uses QR, Deeplink and NFC technology into its existing system, guaranteeing money transfers will be completed within five seconds.

The bank’s approach balances technological advancement with practical security measures, which is reflected in its recent results. OTP’s mobile applications maintain strong customer ratings, while its digital sales have grown substantially from 18.5 per cent to 33.1 per cent in 2024.

“Our strategic goal is for OTP’s mobile app to meet all core customer needs,” says András Kuhárszki, head of the bank’s Omnichannel Tribe area. “Our constantly evolving app offers hundreds of functions for retail clients to track, transact, borrow, or invest.”

Europe

Winner: CaixaBank

CaixaBank has further improved its digital banking market penetration in Spain by the end of 2024, making it the national leader by this metric and widening the gap with its nearest competitor. Focusing on adapting to the ever-evolving technological landscape, the bank now serves more than 12.1mn digital customers.

In September 2024, CaixaBank launched a completely redesigned mobile app that reflects research studies with more than 10,000 customers on how they interact with their finances. This transformation goes beyond mere visual updates to incorporate simplified core functionalities, AI-powered smart search capabilities and a flexible architecture that allows instant app updates without requiring new app store versions.

“Innovation is at the heart of what we do at CaixaBank,” says the bank’s CEO Gonzalo Gortázar. “This success wouldn’t have been possible without our team, which we continue to grow. We’ve hired nearly 600 people for our tech subsidiary in the past 12 months, and we plan to add a total of 3,000 young tech profiles over the horizon of our new strategic plan.“

For internal operations, the bank introduced NOA, a generative AI-based assistant that streamlines the way employees access institutional knowledge. Using retrieval-augmented generation, NOA grounds its responses in thousands of internal documents. The system already processes more than 8mn queries from 45,000 employees annually. The introduction of NOA has reduced escalated queries by 12.29 per cent and saved €2.23mn through optimised back-office workload, which the bank has reinvested in customer-facing services.

For customers on the market for a new vehicle, CaixaBank launched Facilitea Coches, a platform that combines purchasing and financing of a car in a single digital interface. The initiative unites all Spanish car dealerships, creating a level playing field for small and large players, and ensuring the customers get to choose from the widest range of options.

In 2024, CaixaBank invested €1.37bn in technology, an 8.3 per cent increase from the previous year, showing the bank prioritising digital transformation and committing to implementing cutting-edge technologies in the production environment.

“Our commitment to sustainable innovation is clear, and we’re also backing it with a €5bn investment in technology until 2027 to accelerate the bank’s transformation,” Gortázar concludes.

Latin America

Winner: Banorte

Positioning itself as “a digital bank with branches”, Banorte has focussed its strategy on a customer-centric approach with high degree of personalisation, fast implementation of innovative ideas, increasing operational efficiency and boosting financial inclusion.

In 2024, Banorte became the first bank in Mexico to expand its biometrics verification process from using only index fingerprints to all 10 fingerprints thanks to a direct connection to the Instituto Nacional Electoral (electoral registry) data centres. The move has resulted in an increase of successful verifications, reducing friction for digital customers.

Over the past year, Banorte has further enhanced its mobile app to include a digital onboarding process for car loans, remittance collection capabilities for both clients and non-clients, paperless insurance account opening and recurring payment services for utility bills. Furthering its financial inclusion agenda, the bank implemented voice-over functionality for visually impaired users to allow more customers to make financial transactions independently.

The bank also introduced its employees to Elina, a unified AI-driven contact centre tool that is set to transform customer service operations. Elina has consolidated more than 25 separate systems into one platform where contact centre agents can get answers to any questions.

The implementation of the AI assistant has reduced average call duration from 10 minutes to just 50 seconds, while the streamlined interface has decreased agent training time from 37 to 14 hours. In addition, 14 services previously handled by back-office staff can now be resolved directly online, improving overall operations efficiency and customer experience.

“We have 125 years of history in constant innovation to adapt and evolve hand in hand with our customers. Digital disruption drives us to continue leading the future of the banking industry,” says Carlos Hank Gonzalez, chair of Grupo Financiero Banorte.

Middle East

Winner: Arab Bank

The winner in the Open Banking category in 2024, Arab Bank has implemented multiple transformative initiatives in the meantime across mobile banking, payments, open banking and AI. It has continued growing its dedicated in-house technology capability centre, ACABES, which provides technical consulting services to the bank’s subsidiaries and affiliates.

Over the past year, Arab Bank has significantly expanded its Arabi Mobile platform with instant credit card issuance, buy now, pay later functionality and more. It has also added new remittance features: Arabi Rails for fast transfers between Middle Eastern countries, RemitEx for instant bank-to-bank transfers to 28 countries and Visa Direct for near-instant international transfers to cards in 17 countries.

Increasing the speed of customer transactions has been an important topic for the bank. To further improve this metric, it launched Reflect, a digital wallet that provides instant loans, allowing customers to apply for and receive funds within 15 minutes without branch visits or paperwork.

In the realm of AI, Arab Bank has developed several specialised solutions addressing challenges across different aspects of the bank’s functioning.

The Frontliner AI Assistant, which uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation to quickly provide staffers with accurate information about banking products, has enabled a 35 per cent improvement in service efficiency and a 15 per cent increase in customer satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the Country Market Research Assistant aggregates data from trusted sources to enhance strategic decision-making.

Through its innovation arm, AB Xelerate, Arab Bank has sought strategic partnerships with innovative fintechs. Notable collaborations include those with Intella for real-time Arabic call transcription with more than 90 per cent accuracy, InvoiceQ for simplified small and medium-sized enterprise invoicing within the Arabi Next App, and eDamana for secure escrow payments.

“This acknowledgement reflects our commitment to innovation, customer-centric digital transformation and operational excellence,” says Arab Bank’s chief executive Randa Sadik.

“It is a testament to the dedication of our teams and our vision to constantly evolve and grow our dynamic financial services ecosystem to empower customers and communities to achieve their aspirations.”

North America

Winner: JPMorgan

JPMorgan has undertaken a significant effort to alleviate pain points of several customer types by implementing new initiatives across AI capabilities, mobile banking, and process transformation. On the leading edge of the effort has been the Asset & Wealth Management Operations organisation, which is mostly responsible for the innovative projects The Banker looked at.

“This award reflects our commitment to reimagining how we use data, automation and AI to deliver smarter, faster and more scalable solutions. It’s a transformation mission we’ve been on for some time and now, with AI, we can accelerate our journey even more,” says Julie Harris, global head of AWM Operations.

In AWM Operations, we’re not just transforming how we work — we’re building a foundation that drives better outcomes for clients, advisers and the firm as a whole.”

By leveraging the power of large language models, the team has transformed a previously manual process that had resisted automation attempts more than the past decade: the processing of Corporate Actions notifications and amendments. Its solution, launched in November 2024, extracts and standardises text from financial messages, converts dates into common formats, performs spell-checks, and generates coherent narratives. This has enhanced data reliability, saved more than 6,600 hours annually, and reduced manual touchpoints by 80 per cent.

Seeking to further improve the processes around corporate actions, JPMorgan has rolled out the Corporate Actions Online project, which enables its international private bank clients to manage corporate action events conveniently from anywhere. Launched in December 2024 after extensive user research and testing, the initiative elevates a traditionally analogue service to integrate it seamlessly with the bank’s digital platform across both web and mobile. The solution addresses fundamental client frustrations by consolidating multiple iterative announcements into a single view, providing an at-a-glance summary of all corporate actions affecting clients’ portfolios, and supporting complex election options through an intuitive interface.

To streamline another traditionally manual process, JPMorgan deployed the ISDA onboarding app, which has transformed the way the bank works on over-the-counter derivatives documentation. Through digitising the onboarding process, the bank has reduced document generation and distribution time from more than three days to just five minutes, slashed manual touchpoints by 90 per cent, and improved document return ratios from 50 per cent to 69.7 per cent. With 65 per cent of packages now processed via electronic signatures, the project has achieved substantial efficiency gains while driving an estimated $10mn in additional revenue through increased client onboarding.

Product winners

AI and Machine Learning

Winner: Bradesco

Project: Renda Bra 5.0

Bradesco’s Renda Bra 5.0 is addressing the lack of complete income data using data analysis techniques, multiagents and machine learning.

The project helps develop a more comprehensive financial profile of customers, even when information is incomplete.

Initiated in March 2024 and developed in collaboration with AI company Kunumi, Bradesco launched its first version in November and went live in December 2024, with ongoing refinements continuing into 2025.

It integrates multiple data sources, including transactional and behavioural indicators, and uses a dynamic ensemble selection algorithm to refine model selection based on available customer data.

It supported the growth of the bank’s customer base, which grew by more than 1.8mn last year.

The use of personalised models already exists in product segmentation, but applying them to other segments is less common. As such, Bradesco’s approach addresses one of the challenges of handling large volumes of data and missing customer information.

Language models help identify and eliminate irrelevant or biased variables, and develop a faster and more efficient data science process, with income predictions made in a fraction of the time previously required.

Renda Bra 5.0 improves Bradesco’s credit risk assessment, enhances personalisation and widens the bank’s access to new customer segments.

The project, which is expected to generate more than R$100mn ($17.8mn) in profit in 2025, has streamlined modeling workflows and improved strategic decision-making with more accurate financial insights.

For customers, the benefits include access to credit aligned more closely with their financial circumstances, while strengthening their relationship with Bradesco through an improved service.

This initiative presents a scalable model for the industry to improve financial inclusion and sustainability with better data use.

“At Bradesco, business and technology are closely integrated to provide the best financial solutions to our clients. Our AI-first approach is providing key capabilities, not only to deliver amazing experiences, but also to accelerate delivery and enhance efficiency,” says Cíntia Barcelos, the bank’s chief technology officer.

Bank/Fintech Partnership

Winner: BMO

Project: BMO Sync

BMO has partnered with Vancouver-based fintech company Fispan to launch BMO Sync, a first-of-a-kind solution in Canada that seamlessly integrates BMO Online Banking for Business directly into enterprise resource planning and accounting systems like Oracle NetSuite, Intuit QuickBooks and Sage Intacct.

The zero-maintenance solution, which took more than two years to develop and launch, enables BMO’s business customers to automate payments, streamline workflows and gain near real-time cash flow visibility without leaving their existing financial environment. The integration eliminates the need for clients to log into separate banking portals, reducing manual data entry and the associated risks of error.

Key features of BMO Sync include automated payable workflows that eliminate cumbersome file uploads and streamline electronic payment processing, improved cash flow management and improved reconciliation with bank feeds that automatically import transactions into the ERP’s reconciliation module. Additionally, customer onboarding can now be completed in less than 30 minutes.

“By partnering with other innovative, bold thinkers to drive financial automation, we’re extending banking beyond the traditional channels and transforming how businesses engage with their financial service providers,” says Sean Ellery, head of digital and innovation at BMO Commercial Bank. “Projects like this are powered by the collective brainpower of talented people who don’t just think big — they act big. By deeply understanding the needs and challenges of our customers, they’re able to push boundaries and drive innovative solutions that help customers succeed.”

The partnership represents a shift toward embedded finance, where banking capabilities are integrated directly into non-bank platforms. BMO Sync demonstrates the potential of banking-as-a-service and open banking concepts, extending banking capabilities beyond traditional channels and potentially reshaping business-bank interactions toward seamless, fully automated financial ecosystems.

The solution gives BMO a first-mover advantage and outlines the direction in which the banking industry in the region is likely to develop. It shows that embracing the new role of the business banking providers as behind-the-scenes infrastructure players can add value for customers by simplifying their day-to-day work and further streamlining financial processes.

Cyber Security

Winner: OTP Bank

Project: Multi-Element Anti-Fraud Toolkit

With Hungarian banking clients losing nearly €60mn to phishing in 2023, OTP Bank recognises that conventional anti-fraud tools were insufficient against sophisticated scams. To overcome this, the bank has developed an innovative multi-element anti-fraud toolkit to complement its existing system and address a significant vulnerability in traditional banking security.

The solution package features three groundbreaking components working together. The Webcrawler and Honeypot system detects fake OTP Bank websites in real time, along with advertisements redirecting to these sites. The bank then tries to extract the data to protect customers while coordinating with domain service providers to take down fraudulent websites. Last year, more than 1,000 fake OTP websites were shut down thanks to this initiative.

“OTP is calling you”, a feature launched in July 2024, connects the bank’s call management system with its mobile app — which, OTP reports, is a first in Hungarian banking history. Customers get a push notification in the app when they are receiving a genuine call from a bank employee. This quickly reveals fraudsters who cannot initiate calls from the bank’s system.

The bank has also implemented a “panic button”, initially introduced in April 2023 as a standalone feature, helping customers block all of their digital banking channels with a single click. This immediately terminates all internet and mobile banking sessions and suspends digital account access, preventing fraudsters from completing transactions. Between 400 and 600 customers use this feature monthly, securing an average of €1mn in balances.

With more than 2mn customers using the OTP MobilBank app, the toolkit forms part of a comprehensive security strategy that combines traditional fraud prevention with early detection and immediate response capabilities. The project illustrates a transformation in the way a bank should think about cyber security and the urgency to adapt to the challenges and opportunities posed by the latest technological developments.

“OTP Bank significantly reduced fraud in 2024 with the help of our recently developed protective toolkit that complements the main anti-fraud system with early detection and reaction tools,” says András Kuhárszki, head of the bank’s Omnichannel Tribe area.

“Our mission is to protect every customer and become a clear market leader in the fight against fraud.”

Financial Health

Winner: Raiffeisen Bank Romania

Project: Raiffeisen Accumulation, Smart Finance and Smart Mobile

Raiffeisen Bank Romania has democratised long- and short-term financial planning by developing the digital infrastructure underpinning two mobile applications: Smart Finance (installed on branch tablets) and Smart Mobile (the customer-facing app).

In the first two years after its launch, Raiffeisen Smart Finance supported the bank in more than 2.3mn one-on-one conversations with more than 1mn Romanians. It enables customers to create personalised financial plans tailored to their specific goals and needs without any additional costs or obligations. The simulation helps clients manage their personal income and optimise for short-term goals (setting aside money for unforeseen situations), medium-term objectives (savings for special family events or investments) and long-term planning (retirement).

In early 2025, the bank enhanced its offering by launching a digital enrolment process for the Raiffeisen Accumulation voluntary pension fund, along with new functionalities for viewing and managing it in the Smart Mobile app. This development directly addresses the growing awareness among Romanians about the importance of saving for retirement that is additional to the mandatory contributions.

Contracting a voluntary pension plan is now 100 per cent digital, and the client experience is fast and efficient. Customers can view their balance, contribution history, return on investment and fund units held, and adjust their monthly contributions directly from the mobile app — all with complete transparency regarding associated costs.

The bank has also reported that implementation of Smart Finance has increased the number of digitally registered customers and helped establish direct, personalised connections with clients. Through this, Raiffeisen Bank Romania is assisting clients in creating sustainable long-term financial plans, introducing forward-thinking perspectives to the local banking sector.

Mobile

Winner: DBS Bank

Project: POSB Smart Buddy

DBS Bank’s POSB Smart Buddy is an innovative in-school wearable tech savings and payments programme, which has so far been rolled out to more than 230,000 students across 253 schools in Singapore. The participants get free smartwatches or contactless cards for payments within their school environment, accessible to both students and their parents.

First launched in 2017, POSB Smart Buddy saw a transformative upgrade in 2024, following extensive user research with more than 600 parents and children surveyed or interviewed. The new version includes two key features that further the programme’s impact: Insights and Smart Buddy Missions. The former provides real-time summaries of a child’s spending and saving, while the latter introduces social interaction and positive financial practices through interactive challenges.

The results of the latest upgrade have been impressive, with a 75 per cent year-on-year increase in children’s total savings and average savings per child rising from $12.74 to $16.29 between January 2024 and 2025.

DBS Bank’s initiative aims to address a critical gap in financial literacy education by creating an ecosystem that seamlessly integrates into children’s daily lives. At the same time, it provides parents with valuable insights into their children’s spending patterns.

“We believe it is our responsibility to lead the way in financial inclusion and digital literacy,” says Brandon Lam, head of deposits and financing solutions at DBS’s consumer banking group. “Approximately 70 per cent of children in Singapore hold bank accounts with us today.”

The programme showcases the potential of using mobile technology in general and wearable devices in particular in financial literacy education. With gamification added to the mix, POSB Smart Buddy has become a textbook example of the positive power of innovation in society.

Over the past year, the initiative has seen a 35 per cent user base increase. The bank also has plans for a partnership with the Ministry of Education of Singapore, paving the way for future adoption and potentially influencing the market across the region.

Speaking about the future roadmap for the initiative, Lam notes that “a healthy eating tracker will also be launched, allowing families to monitor students’ eating habits via the Smart Buddy app, further promoting overall wellbeing alongside financial literacy”.

Open Banking

Winner: ICBC

Project: Open Banking Ecosystem Construction

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has established an open banking system through its Open Banking Ecosystem Construction project, bringing with it developments such as an open cloud marketplace and more tailored financial products.

By consolidating its financial service capabilities, ICBC has developed a multi-tiered open banking framework encompassing application programming interfaces, products and bundled services, which has established a flexible product delivery system and a more customer-centric approach.

ICBC began working on its open banking project in December 2023 and it was later established in October 2024.

The ecosystem serves more than 60,000 partners and 45,000 enterprises, particularly benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises and public service sectors.

The bank offers over 2,000 APIs and has launched more than 20 digital solutions across industries such as rural development and cross-border trade. To date, ICBC’s API services have expanded to 22 countries and regions.

The infrastructure can support 280mn transactions per day and delivers robust operational stability for API-driven deployments and software-as-a-service product implementations.

“ICBC is building an open ecosystem to enhance operational efficiency, provide convenient services for customers and support digital transformation. In the future, it will upgrade digital security management and control systems, and create a new model of intelligent services,” says a spokesperson for the bank.

“The project adopts innovative models such as technology openness, ecosystem collaboration and data-driven empowerment to build an open banking platform with the strongest connectivity, widest product supplies and best digital services.“

As part of its open banking ecosystem, ICBC has launched an open cloud marketplace by integrating third-party cloud-based solutions such as econtracting and tax invoice management, forming a “financial and operational” service matrix that better addresses clients’ needs.

Restructuring financial resources through API-cloud convergence, ICBC has built a multi-layered product ecosystem comprising atomic APIs, modular products and scenario-based solutions.

Additionally, the bank has adopted a co-development model with SaaS platforms, enabling platform tenants to access ICBC’s financial services with zero coding or testing requirements.

Payments

Winner: OCBC Indonesia

Project: Enterprise Payment System

OCBC Indonesia has upgraded its payment infrastructure with the Enterprise Payment System, an in-house developed platform underpinned in scalability, reliability, automation and resilience. Its API-first architecture allows for seamless interoperability across the financial ecosystem, in a stark contrast with conventional systems that relied heavily on third-party integrations.

The microservices-based, cloud-native backend has already shown a high degree of transaction volume efficiency, as the system is already processing 1mn cashless payment transactions monthly. Thanks to optimised mobile payment flows, the EPS reduced transaction processing time by 50 per cent, while transaction volume has surged by 87 per cent in the same period.

The EPS also includes end-to-end automation of reconciliation and settlement processes, which has minimised human errors, increased efficiency and reduced operational costs.

“At OCBC, we are committed to continuous innovation that puts our customers first,” says Ka Jit The, director of PT Bank OCBC Indonesia. “The success of our Enterprise Payment System reflects our goal to modernise infrastructure, streamline diverse payment types and scale performance for the future … For our customers, this translates to faster access and more seamless payment services. This is a key step in realising our vision to enrich the quality of life through smarter financial solutions.”

With the introduction of the EPS, OCBC Indonesia has left behind its legacy systems, helping ensure regulatory compliance and a smooth adoption of emerging financial innovations. The bank has achieved 35 per cent faster integration with new billers and payment partners; it already supports 207 billers using the JSON format, with many more in the pipeline.

The system supports national and cross-border payments, and enables broader market reach via API-based connectivity. Its modular nature simplifies seamless connectivity with fintechs, merchants and banking services to ensure regulatory readiness and Open Banking compliance.

This initiative has strengthened OCBC’s position in Indonesia’s evolving digital economy through enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency, as well as supporting the broader ecosystem, driving innovation and financial standards in the region.

Risk Management

Winner: Piraeus Bank

Project: Risk Intelligence Improvement

Piraeus Bank has transformed risk intelligence from a compliance obligation into a strategic enabler. Within the past year, the Greek lender delivered major advancements across credit risk, compliance, climate risk and financial reporting.

At the heart of the risk-management transformation is the Early Warning System, an AI-driven analytics engine leveraging social media data for small and medium-sized enterprises, daily borrower behaviour assessment, macroeconomic indicators and sector-specific risk factors. Unlike more rigid conventional models, this system regularly refines its predictive accuracy through machine learning, delivering a holistic view of customers’ risk profiles.

By implementing the BCBS-239 (ECB-RDARR) framework, the bank has centralised its risk data architecture, eliminated manual inefficiencies, and embedded automation. It also ensured compliance with the expectation of the European Central Bank reducing regulatory risk.

“The transformation has elevated Piraeus’s risk posture, enabling earlier interventions, and streamlining regulatory compliance and [improving] operational efficiency,” says Harry Margaritis, the bank’s group chief operating officer. “For customers, it means a more stable, forward-looking financial partner — one that integrates sustainability and resilience into every credit and capital decision.”

Particularly noteworthy is Piraeus’s 2024 Climate Stress Test project, which integrates GIS technology to map climate risk at coordinate level. This sophisticated geospatial approach offers granular insight into the impact of environmental risks on customer assets, collaterals and business continuity. According to the bank, the project represents a first-of-its-kind integration in financial risk assessment.

The Financial Results Acceleration initiative has made Piraeus the first bank in Greece to publish financial results ahead of competitors for six consecutive quarters. The high degree of workflow automation has eliminated manual inefficiencies and freed up employee time, as manual workload dropped by 7 per cent and overall overtime effort declined by 30 per cent.

Having introduced a series of technology-driven transformational initiatives, Piraeus Bank has secured an opportunity to become a local industry benchmark when it comes to risk management, financial transparency and efficiency.

Transformation Project

Winner: BBVA

Project: ADA (Analytics + Data + AI) Platform

BBVA’s analytics, data and AI project, known as ADA, is a fully integrated global data platform and represents a major milestone in the bank’s digital transformation, shifting from legacy on-premise infrastructure to a unified, cloud-native solution using Amazon Web Services.

Work on the project began in March 2021 with the lender’s proof-of-concepts starting in September that year.

Implementation began in October 2022, with ADA going live in Europe and Uruguay in November 2024. Rollout in Mexico and Colombia is set for May 2025, followed by Argentina and Peru in October 2025.

ADA’s main goal is to consolidate data operations across all of the bank’s entities into a single, scalable platform, eliminating inefficiencies caused by fragmentation and capacity limits. It can support four petabytes of data and currently supports 30,000 datasets, 3,500 heavy users and 700,000 monthly processes.

“With ADA, our goal was to build the foundation for becoming a company that is truly data-driven. Over two years, we successfully executed a complex, multidisciplinary migration of our on-premises data platform across multiple countries. We replaced legacy infrastructure with a cloud-native solution built on AWS that unlocks scalability, agility, and continuous innovation,” says Carlos Casas, BBVA’s global head of engineering.

ADA has streamlined global compliance, strengthened security via AWS high availability features and improved data accessibility across BBVA’s business units. As a result, its analysts and data scientists now work within a single system.

It has also brought cost-efficiency, with a pay-per-use model cutting operational expenses by up to 40 per cent.

BBVA is one of the first banks to demonstrate that full cloud migration, versus hybrid approaches, is both compliant and strategically advantageous.

“ADA has significantly enhanced our ability to deliver personalised, efficient and secure data services, reducing time-to-market and improving operational efficiency. It provides a solid foundation to accelerate the adoption of advanced capabilities such as generative AI, real-time data processing, and unstructured data analysis, helping BBVA scale innovation faster and with a greater impact,” Casas says.