The IBSi Global FinTech Innovation Awards 2026 seek to identify and honour banks, financial institutions and technology players for their excellence in driving impact through banking technology implementations and innovations using emerging technologies. The IBSi Global FinTech Innovation Awards is in its eighth year, celebrating the coolest in FinTech globally. IBS Intelligence invites banks, financial institutions, global banking technology pioneers and new-age FinTech suppliers to showcase their excellence in project delivery and innovation. Last year the Awards received over 600+ nominations from 50+ countries across the globe in 18 categories.

This year, IBSi Global FinTech Innovation Awards will recognise the most innovative and impactful projects, around the world, across 18 categories as listed below:

1. Primary Banking Domains
   1. Core Banking Implementation
   2. Lending Platform Implementation
   3. Payments, Card & Wallet Solutions Implementation
   4. Digital Banking Channels Implementation
2. Specialized & Segment Banking
   5. Wealth, Private & Investment Technology Implementation
   6. Islamic Banking Implementation
   7. Corporate & Wholesale Banking Implementation
3. Channel, Experience & Identity
   8. Customer Experience Platform Implementation
   9. Data & Identity Technologies
   10. APIs, Open Banking, BaaS & Blockchain Implementation
4. Technology, Risk & Infrastructure
   11. Testing & Quality Assurance Implementation
   12. Risk, Compliance & Cybersecurity Implementation
5. Artificial Intelligence
   13. Generative AI in Banking
   14. Agentic AI & Intelligent Automation
   15. Applied AI/ML & Data Intelligence in Banking
   16. AI Infrastructure & Enablement
6. Recognition & Impact
   17. System Integrator / Implementation Partner of the Year
   18. Special Recognition Awards

The IBSi Global FinTech Innovation Awards recognises innovative and impactful projects. We understand that there could be multiple projects running at a financial institution. Hence there is no restriction on the same financial institution being nominated for multiple categories.

IBS Intelligence reserves the right to use the information to analyse the key trends, developing the content, and publish in the form of Journal Articles and/or Case Studies.

Yes, there is no limit to the number of nominations that one institution can submit for consideration. However, each nomination has to be made as a separate application.

The jury will adjudge the nominations based on the best industry practices. Some of the typical criteria for evaluation are listed below:

Best Banking Technology Implementation Awards

1. Best Program Vision
2. Best Adopted Tools and Practices
3. Most Impactful Project
4. Best Project Implementation

 Best FinTech Innovation Awards

1. Best Program Vision
2. Most Agile Deployment
3. Most Impactful Project
4. Most Innovative Project

We welcome nominations from all entities, including banks, financial institutions, banking technology suppliers, and FinTech companies, in 18 categories. The key criteria for submission is that the project or proof of concept must be implemented at a financial institution. It is important to note that the implementation should not be older than two years and must have gone live or been implemented before June 2026. Please be aware that if a project was previously nominated for evaluation in an earlier edition, that specific nomination will not be considered.

In the event the name of the bank cannot be shared, you are required to provide the profile of the bank, for example, the tier of the bank, geography where it is located, size of the bank in terms of asset size, no. of branches or anything else you can share about the bank, without actually naming the bank. There also needs to be some artefacts that must be shared in a separate email to us at nikhilg@ibsintelligence.net, to substantiate your claims. In the absence of both being shared, the panel may not consider your nomination, considering that other participants would be submitting their responses along with their claims. So, this would be taken up on a case by case basis.

No, participating in the IBSi Global FinTech Innovation Awards is free of cost.

IBSi Global Innovation FinTech Awards jury will be evaluating the quality and nature of the submissions made. The panel will make an informed decision on the banks that need to be contacted for necessary validations and/or confirmations. This will be determined, among other factors, based on the supporting documentation provided, information validated in the public domain as well as the existing knowledge base with IBSi. The jury reserves the right to contact the banks quoted in nominations. In any case, please note that IBSi team will keep the supplier informed before formally connecting with the relevant contact person at the bank, as referred in the nomination details.