The winners of the MEA Finance Leaders in Payments Awards 2026, held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel JBR last 22nd September 2026 in Dubai, were presented with their awards in a celebratory recognition of their important achievements through uncertainty and testing times in the world of payments.

These highly-coveted awards recognise the key individuals, businesses and the innovations have kept the GCC at the leading edge of development in the globally important payments sector, making tangible contributions to regional resilience in the face of stressed global circumstances.

Organised by MEA Finance Magazine, the much awaited annual Leaders in Payments awards, remain the benchmark for recognition of payments leadership and excellence across the region, spotlighting innovation and stand-out performance in institutions in the banking, fintech and payments technology space.

Experiencing yet another high-point in the number of nominations, reflecting the central importance of payments as a key function of society, all entries underwent evaluation by a panel of industry experts before matching awards to their deserving winners. The panel selected forty-one category winners following evaluation of their impact on the regional payments’ scene

Here follows the full list of the MEA Finance Banking Leaders in Payments Awards 2026 winners:

  1. Best Payment Gateway – Tap Payments
  2. Best Payment Gateway Implementation – Network International
  3. Best End-to-End Online Payments Processing Systems Provider – Telr
  4. Best Real-Time Payments Provider – TerraPay
  5. Best Payment Interoperability Platform – TerraPay
  6. Best Real-Time Payments Banking Service – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  7. Best Real-Time Payments Implementation – RAKBANK
  8. Best Initiative in Payment Technology Implementation – Nebras Open Finance LLC
  9. Best Payment Technology Implementation – UAE – Neopay
  10. Best Digital Cards Transformation in Banking – United Arab Bank (UAB)
  11. Best User Experience in Payments – UAE – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  12. Best User Experience in Payments – Middle East – Standard Chartered
  13. Best Cross-Border Payments Technology Provider – Global Payment Services (GPS)
  14. Landmark Innovation in Cross-Border Payments – Liv by Emirates NBD
  15. Landmark Innovation in Cross-Border Payments – Remittances – Al Ansari Exchange (AAE) Kuwait’s implementation of Visa Direct
  16. Best Payments as a Service Award – Aurigga Technology Solutions
  17. Best Payments Cyber Security Provider – TrendAI™
  18. Best B2B Payments Solution – RAKBANK
  19. Best Payment Orchestration Platform – Network International and GBM
  20. Best Open Banking Payments Project – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  21. Best Digital Payment Transformation Initiative – Emirates NBD
  22. Best Digital Payment Transformation Implementation – Mashreq
  23. Best Mobile Payment App – Emirates NBD
  24. Best Mobile Banking Application – RAKBANK
  25. Best Payments Inclusivity Initiative – Botim
  26. Best Digital Collections Platform for Corporate Banking – Standard Chartered
  27. Best Remittance and Foreign Exchange Services Provider – Al Ansari Exchange LLC
  28. Best Payment System Implementation – Global Payment Services (GPS)
  29. Best Cross-Border Payments Infrastructure in the Middle East – Swift
  30. Best Cross Border Technology Project – Mashreq and GBM for Swift GPH & Quick Remit
  31. Payments Innovation of the Year – UAE – Liv by Emirates NBD
  32. Most Impactful Payments Innovation – Skiply
  33. Best AI Application in Payments – Mashreq and GBM
  34. Best Innovation in Payments Technology – Neopay
  35. Payments Technology Executive of the Year in Banking – Santosh Vaidya, Senior Vice President – Head of Payments and Digital Services, Mashreq
  36. Payments Technology Executive of the Year in Financial Services – Rajesh TK – Group Head – IT Infrastructure, Network International
  37. Digital Payments Leader of the Year – Abdallah Muhana Jamil, Senior Vice President – Head of Skiply Program & Head of Education Solution
  38. Most Outstanding Leader in Digital Payments – Sujit Unni, Group CTO, Network International
  39. Payments Executive of the Year – Erdogan Bayrak, CTO, Neopay
  40. Digital Payments Visionary – Dr. Abdulla Altaee, Chief Operating Officer, United Arab Bank
  41. Payments CEO of the Year – Vibhor Mundhada, Chief Executive Officer, Neopay

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