The winners of the MEA Finance Banking Technology Awards 2026, held in the Jumeriah Emirates Towers Hotel, were presented on the 24th of June in a ceremony attended by almost 300 senior executives and their valued guests from the region’s banking services and financial technology providers.

These prestigious annual awards mark another year of innovative achievements and industry building developments led by businesses and leaders across the banking, finance, fintech and financial technology sectors.

Organised and hosted by MEA Finance Magazine, and widely considered as the annual high point of recognition for banking technology excellence across the region, the awards underscore the innovations and stand-out performance of institutions in the banking, fintech and financial technology space in our increasingly competitive market.

With nominations for the awards continuing to exceed those of all previous years – a particular achievement in the wake of the challenges facing the region earlier in this year, they emphasised the rapid pace of growth and competition in the regional financial technology market. As always evaluation of the awards was arduous, given the increasing expertise and quality work in our market with the judging panel exerting focused consideration and scrutiny of the nominees’ entries.

Here follows the full list of the MEA Finance Banking Technology Awards 2026winners:

  1. Best Islamic Fintech Solutions Provider – DDCAP Group
  2. Digital Banking Provider of the Year – Avaloq
  3. Best Core Banking Solutions Provider – Avaloq
  4. Best Data Management Solution Provider – Huawei
  5. Best Risk Management Solutions Provider – 4most
  6. Best Retail Payment Provider – Instant Cash
  7. Best AML/KYC Solution Provider – Signzy
  8. Best Open Banking & API Solutions Provider – Infosys Finacle
  9. Most Innovative Payment Solutions Provider -ACI Worldwide
  10. Best Payments Innovation Award – Network International
  11. Best Integrated Payments Systems Provider – Salispay Technology LLC
  12. Best Wealth and Investment Technology Provider – Profile Software
  13. Best Corporate Taxation Technology Initiative in the UAE -Naqood
  14. Best AI Provider to Banks and Financial Institutions – Thumba.AI
  15. Best Fraud Prevention and Detection AI Provider – i2c Inc. 
  16. Best Managed Services and Enterprise Consolidation Provider – SR Intelligent Technologies Consultancy
  17. Best Regulatory Compliance AI Provider -MOZN
  18. Best Regulation Technology Solution Provider – 4most and Reporting Centre for their Central Bank of UAE BRF Automation
  19. Best Composable Banking Solutions Provider of the Year – Finshape
  20. Best Testing, Consulting & Managed Services Provider – Testhouse
  21. Digital Banking Innovation of the Year – Mbank
  22. Best Digital Innovation in Islamic Banking – Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
  23. Best Digital Modernisation and Restructuring Award – United Arab Bank
  24. Best Neobank – Liv by Emirates NBD
  25. Best Cybersecurity and Risk Management Implementation – National Bank of Fujairah
  26. Best Core Banking Technology Implementation – Emirates Investment Bank & Infosys Finacle
  27. Best Data Management – Emirates NBD & Huawei
  28. Best Analytics System – Mashreq
  29. Best Mobile Banking Services – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  30. Most Innovative Emerging Technology Implementation – Mashreq & GBM
  31. Outstanding Emerging Technology Initiative – RAKBANK
  32. Best Cloud Implementation – National Bank of Fujairah
  33. Best Hybrid Cloud Implementation – United Arab Bank & GBM
  34. Best Innovation in User Experience – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  35. Best AI-Driven User Experience Innovation – Mashreq
  36. Best Core Banking Infrastructure Implementation – National Bank of Fujairah & GBM
  37. Best Financial Services Digital Platform – Mashreq
  38. Best Innovation in Retail Banking – Emirates NBD
  39. Best Innovation in Retail Banking, Qatar – Qatar International Islamic Bank
  40. Best Innovation in Corporate Banking and Finance – Mashreq & GBM
  41. Best Innovation in Investment Banking – CBIx, Commercial Bank International’s Innovation Lab and Ventures Company
  42. Best Innovation in Trade Finance – Mashreq
  43. Best Regulation Technology Solution – Mashreq
  44. Most Innovative Trading Platform – Standard Chartered
  45. Trade Finance Technology Excellence Award – Mashreq
  46. Best AML/KYC Integration – Liv by Emirates NBD
  47. Best Islamic Fintech Solutions Implementation – GFH Bank
  48. Best AI Technology Implementation – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  49. Best Financial Analytics System – RAKBANK & GBM
  50. Best Open Banking & API Implementation – Zand & Infosys Finacle
  51. Best Open Banking & API Initiative – Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
  52. Best Branch Digitisation Implementation – Ajman Bank
  53. Best Corporate Payment Service – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  54. Best Risk & Compliance Implementation – Kuwait Finance House (KFH)
  55. Best AML/KYC Solution Implementation – Mashreq
  56. Best Retail Payment Implementation – Emirates NBD
  57. Best Treasury Management Implementation – First Abu Dhabi Bank
  58. Best Overall AI Strategy – Mashreq
  59. Best AI Use in Regulatory Compliance – Mashreq
  60. Best Use of AI for Fraud Prevention and Detection – Mashreq
  61. Best Testing, Consulting & Managed Services Implementation – Commercial Bank of Dubai & QualityKiosk Technologies
  62. Best Financial Sector Portal in the Middle East – Instant Cash Digital Services Portal
  63. Most Innovative Payment Solutions Implementation – Gulf International Bank – GIB
  64. Best Corporate Payments Solution – Mashreq
  65. Best Regional Digital Payment Contributions – Mastercard Merchant Cloud
  66. Excellence in Global Payments Innovation – Swift
  67. Best Accounting and Tax Solutions for SMEs – Virtuzone
  68. Banking Transformation Executive of the Year – Dr. Abdulla AlTaee, Chief Operating Officer, United Arab Bank
  69. Technology Leadership Award – Shoaib Rizvi, Group Head of Digital Products Technology, Emirates NBD
  70. Financial Services Technology Executive Award – Sasi Nair, Head of Information Technology, Commercial Bank of Dubai
  71. Leadership Excellence in AI Transformation – Arun Mehta, Head of Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, First Abu Dhabi Bank
  72. Technology Excellence Award in Financial Services – Ali Rey, Group Head of Technology Platforms, Emirates NBD
  73. Chief Digital and Information Officer of the Year – Miguel Rio-Tinto, Group Chief Digital and Information Officer, Emirates NBD
  74. Digital Transformation Leader of the Year – Mohamed Abdel Hamid Abdel-Razek, Group Chief Information Officer & Head of Transformation, Mashreq

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