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:
- Best Payment Gateway – Tap Payments
- Best Payment Gateway Implementation – Network International
- Best End-to-End Online Payments Processing Systems Provider – Telr
- Best Real-Time Payments Provider – TerraPay
- Best Payment Interoperability Platform – TerraPay
- Best Real-Time Payments Banking Service – First Abu Dhabi Bank
- Best Real-Time Payments Implementation – RAKBANK
- Best Initiative in Payment Technology Implementation – Nebras Open Finance LLC
- Best Payment Technology Implementation – UAE – Neopay
- Best Digital Cards Transformation in Banking – United Arab Bank (UAB)
- Best User Experience in Payments – UAE – First Abu Dhabi Bank
- Best User Experience in Payments – Middle East – Standard Chartered
- Best Cross-Border Payments Technology Provider – Global Payment Services (GPS)
- Landmark Innovation in Cross-Border Payments – Liv by Emirates NBD
- Landmark Innovation in Cross-Border Payments – Remittances – Al Ansari Exchange (AAE) Kuwait’s implementation of Visa Direct
- Best Payments as a Service Award – Aurigga Technology Solutions
- Best Payments Cyber Security Provider – TrendAI™
- Best B2B Payments Solution – RAKBANK
- Best Payment Orchestration Platform – Network International and GBM
- Best Open Banking Payments Project – First Abu Dhabi Bank
- Best Digital Payment Transformation Initiative – Emirates NBD
- Best Digital Payment Transformation Implementation – Mashreq
- Best Mobile Payment App – Emirates NBD
- Best Mobile Banking Application – RAKBANK
- Best Payments Inclusivity Initiative – Botim
- Best Digital Collections Platform for Corporate Banking – Standard Chartered
- Best Remittance and Foreign Exchange Services Provider – Al Ansari Exchange LLC
- Best Payment System Implementation – Global Payment Services (GPS)
- Best Cross-Border Payments Infrastructure in the Middle East – Swift
- Best Cross Border Technology Project – Mashreq and GBM for Swift GPH & Quick Remit
- Payments Innovation of the Year – UAE – Liv by Emirates NBD
- Most Impactful Payments Innovation – Skiply
- Best AI Application in Payments – Mashreq and GBM
- Best Innovation in Payments Technology – Neopay
- Payments Technology Executive of the Year in Banking – Santosh Vaidya, Senior Vice President – Head of Payments and Digital Services, Mashreq
- Payments Technology Executive of the Year in Financial Services – Rajesh TK – Group Head – IT Infrastructure, Network International
- Digital Payments Leader of the Year – Abdallah Muhana Jamil, Senior Vice President – Head of Skiply Program & Head of Education Solution
- Most Outstanding Leader in Digital Payments – Sujit Unni, Group CTO, Network International
- Payments Executive of the Year – Erdogan Bayrak, CTO, Neopay
- Digital Payments Visionary – Dr. Abdulla Altaee, Chief Operating Officer, United Arab Bank
- Payments CEO of the Year – Vibhor Mundhada, Chief Executive Officer, Neopay
