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The Global Islamic Finance Innovation Awards 2026, organised by The Digital Banker, exists to honour and celebrate preeminent and groundbreaking Islamic financial institutions and their distinguished individuals’ contribution across the global banking landscape.

The Digital Banker welcomes you to participate in the program and showcase how your institution uses innovation to build ethical, Shariah-aligned banking that truly reflects interest-free principles and shared profit, loss, and risk.

The Digital Banker Awards are accolades of excellence and distinction, attributed to outstanding players – they provide objective benchmarks for the global and regional banking industry. This program celebrates leading Islamic financial institutions that are setting new standards, driving digital transformation, and delivering consistent, Shariah-compliant banking experiences for a diverse set of customers.

If your organisation and/or professionals are redefining Shariah-based finance with bold ideas and breakthrough innovation, this is your moment. We invite you to put your best forward – submit your nominations for the 2026 edition of the awards today.

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

Recognising the changing priorities of Islamic finance, The Digital Banker has expanded the 2026 awards program to include two new categories – Sustainability & ESG Awards and Risk & Cybersecurity Awards. The Digital Banker has also bolstered its People & Organisation Awards category by incorporating new talent and leadership awards to celebrate the individuals driving this industry forward.

Together, these additions shine a spotlight on institutions redefining Islamic finance, building stronger digital defences, and nurturing exceptional leaders in this space.

WHY NOMINATE?

Islamic finance has experienced a period of significant growth and transformation in recent years driven by a combination of factors, which include robust commodity prices, strong economic growth in core markets, and genuine investor demand with total assets reaching approximately USD 2 trillion. The resilience of Islamic finance against global headwinds is noteworthy, with Shariah-compliant assets consistently outperforming their conventional counterparts.

Moreover, the Islamic finance industry is positioning itself towards for further growth, with advancements in standardisation of contracts and integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values, reinforcing the industry's commitment to both sustainable development and ethical and responsible investing. In addition, stakeholders in various jurisdictions are proactively encouraging the development of Islamic finance to improve financial inclusion, recognising this sector’s potential to contribute to economic development.

Clearly, the global Islamic finance landscape remains resilient and dynamic, poised for further growth as it further integrates into the global financial system, while pioneering the development of Shariah-based financial products and services. Institutions are also creating better customer journeys, improving operations, and digitising core functions to serve clients more effectively and grow their business while staying aligned with Shariah principles.

WHO CAN APPLY?

The Global Islamic Finance Innovation Awards program is open to all participants within the Islamic finance ecosystem across numerous lines of business. We invite nominations from Islamic retail banks, Islamic SME banks, Islamic wealth managers, Islamic transaction banks, Islamic fintech companies, Islamic asset managers, Takaful operators, technology solution providers and vendors.

JUDGING METHODOLOGY

Shortlisted nominees are selected on the qualitative and quantitative depth of their nominations.

The Digital Banker research team will shortlist four institutions or individuals per category, which will then be put to our impartial panel of expert judges who will undertake a rigorous audit-type process to carefully select the winners.

We use a proprietary, numerical and qualitative scoring methodology which is applied to all submissions and augmented by assessment in: Product and Service Innovation, Superior Customer Experience, Financial & Market Performance and Corporate Strategy with a focus on the Islamic Digital Ecosystem the Shariah-compliant bank has built to date.

We uphold the highest adherence to confidentiality and personal data. As such, all responses will be treated as strictly confidential. No data shall be shared beyond the assessment of The Digital Banker’s judging panel, unless permission has been granted.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Only projects that have been completed in 2025 will be accepted. Initiation of the project can be earlier – The Digital Banker does not require a specific commencement date. In addition to this, any updates/new additions to existing projects within the said time frame will also be accepted. If a project was completed prior to 2024, the project will be accepted only if any significant updates have been made to it during the period under review.

We do not place a limit on the number of submissions per institution. Please be aware that multiple submissions by a single organisation for a single category will compete with each other.

A separate submission is required for each category. Please submit all the entries on the platform by choosing the correct category and award title.

REMINDERS

Enteries recieved after the closing date will not be accepted under any circumstances.

We may request a further interview with the executive managing the program or initiative that is being nominated. The objective of the interview is merely to gain deeper insights (if needed) for the purposes of judging.

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