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The Middle East & Africa Innovation Awards 2026, organised by The Digital Banker, exist to honour, and celebrate the region’s preeminent banking institutions and their contribution to transaction banking and risk management. This has become increasingly critical as volatile inflation across the region and fluctuating commodity prices are impacting bank profitability and balance sheet strength. To that end, The Digital Banker welcomes you to participate in the program to showcase how your institution has been leveraging innovation in maintaining key transaction banking relationships and superior risk management capabilities.

The Digital Banker Awards are accolades of excellence and distinction, attributed to outstanding players - they are held in high regard as unbiased benchmarks for the worldwide financial services industry worldwide. Our accreditation programs exist to celebrate the world’s most cutting-edge banks that are pioneering unrivalled standards and capabilities- those that are transforming the industry by setting new milestones in service delivery, digital innovation, product development and customer experience.

Why Nominate?

Clearly, the transaction banking and risk management landscape in the Middle East & Africa is undergoing significant transformation and is being redefined by technological advancements, sophisticated client mandates, and an evolving regulatory environment. As banks adapt to these strategic shifts, they will likely seek to enhance their operational efficiencies by providing more tailored and secure financial services powered by innovative and feature-rich technologies to meet the demands of a rapidly digitising market.

Through this unique program, The Digital Banker will assess banks that offer leading transaction banking services to corporate, financial institutions or public sector customers and have introduced superior risk management frameworks and systems that are ensuring institutional scalability and resilience. Effectively, these prestigious awards will identify and distinguish best in class performance, innovation and execution across the transaction banking and risk management verticals, which have severely tested bank resources and capabilities in recent times amid challenging business conditions.

Who can apply?

We invite submissions from transaction banks and wholesale banks that offer cash management, payments, trade finance, trade solutions, securities services, and treasury services. We also invite risk management teams that have deployed the highest risk control and mitigation processes amid a dynamic threat environment. If you identify your institution or solutions provider as an industry leader that is pushing boundaries and driving unrivalled innovation in transaction finance or risk management, we welcome you to send in your nominations for the respective awards. Awards winners will be announced and celebrated across The Digital Banker’s global media channels, magazine, and multi-media partner outlets.

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 & qualitative scoring methodology which is applied to all submissions and augmented by assessment in: Innovation, Engagement, Personalisation and User Experience keeping the focus on the broader digital ecosystem the institution has built to date.

Submission Guidelines

Only projects that have been completed in H2 2024 and 2025 will be accepted. Initiation of the project can be earlier – The Digital Banker does not require a specific commencement date. If a project was completed prior to 2025, the project will be accepted only if any updates have been made to it.

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

Entries received after the closing date will not be accepted any under 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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