Barin Kayaoglu, of the Social Sciences University of Ankara, says that a Libyan general’s plane crash in Turkiye is unlikely to impact the broader framework of Turkiye’s role in Libya.
Published On 24 Dec 202524 Dec 2025
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In mid-November, the Hong Kong government priced an approximately HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion) tokenized green bond offering. It is the first global government issuance to permit settlement via digital fiat currencies and one of the largest digital bonds issued globally.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the territory’s de facto central bank and bank regulator, issued the bond in four tranches across several currencies. The Hong Kong dollar and yuan tranches can be settled using e-HKD and e-CNY, digital versions of those currencies based on blockchain technology, alongside traditional settlement methods.
Sovereign tokenized bonds indicate financial centers no longer compete on just cost or liquidity, “they are now competing on infrastructure,” says Dor Eligula, co-founder of BridgeWise. “Hong Kong’s move accelerates a shift toward markets where data is auditable in real-time, and settlement becomes a feature rather than a friction. That ultimately reshapes the global hierarchy of capital markets.”
“Riding on our established strengths in financial services, this issuance will further consolidate Hong Kong’s status as a leading green and sustainable finance hub,” said Christopher Hui Ching-yu, secretary for financial services and the treasury, in the November 11 announcement.
Specifically, investors purchasing the HK$2.5 billion, two-year tranche would receive 2.5% in annual interest for two years. The 2.5 billion yuan ($351 million), five-year tranche yielding 1.9% annually, with the $300 million, three-year tranche returning 3.6%, and the €300 million ($348 million) four-year tranche paying 2.5% annually.
The offering drew total demand of more than HK$130 billion, with subscriptions from a range of international institutional investors, including multinational banks, investment banks, insurers, and asset management firms, according to an HKMA prepared statement.
The current bond offering will finance and refinance projects under the government’s Green Bond Framework. The government issued two batches of tokenized green bonds—an HK$800 million batch in February 2023 and another worth around HK$6 billion in February 2024.
The latest issuance extends the tenor up to five years. Compared with previous issuances, the number of investors has also “expanded markedly,” according to the HKMA.
In a territory where 81 percent of buildings lie damaged or destroyed, a small community of young Palestinians is fighting to preserve what remains of Gaza’s digital world.
Coders, repair technicians and freelance workers are labouring under impossible conditions to keep the besieged enclave connected to the outside world.
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Against all odds, Gaza’s youths continue to adapt. They work offline, code in notebooks, store solar power whenever the sun is out, and wait for rare moments of connectivity to send their work to clients around the world.
In a war that has taken nearly everything, digital skills have become a form of survival – and resilience.
Many now also rely on online work to make a living. But even that fragile lifeline is now hanging by a thread after more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Israeli forces have “deliberately and systematically destroyed” the telecommunications infrastructure.
“We just always look for another way to get connected, always find another way,” said Shaima Abu Al Atta, a coder working from a displacement camp. “This is what actually gave us purpose because if we didn’t do this, we would just die surviving and not doing anything. We would die internally.”
Before the war erupted in October 2023, Gaza had a modest but vibrant tech scene. Innovation hubs hosted coding bootcamps, and hundreds of freelancers worked remotely for international clients. Much of that ecosystem now lies in ruins.
Shareef Naim, an engineer who led a technology hub, described what was lost. His building housed more than 12 programmers with contracts for companies outside Gaza, he said. “The team was very active,” Naim told Al Jazeera.
Today, the structure is destroyed, though some team members are still trying to work from tents and emergency shelters.
Computer technician A’aed Shamaly says, “The main challenge is electricity. Today, electricity is not available all the time, and if it is available, it is unstable, and there will be a lot of cuts. Prices are also high.”
Electricity, when available at all, is unstable and prohibitively expensive, $12 per kilowatt compared with $1.50 for 10 kilowatts before the war, he said. “There are no spare parts,” he added, so technicians must scavenge components from broken equipment pulled from bombed buildings.
The scale of destruction is staggering. According to the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), approximately 198,273 structures across Gaza have been damaged, with 123,464 completely destroyed. The telecommunications sector has been particularly hard hit.
Data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reveals that 64 percent of mobile phone towers were out of service as of early April 2025. In Rafah, coverage has collapsed to just 27 percent, down from near-universal access before the war.
During the war, connectivity watchdog NetBlocks documented repeated disruptions, including what it called a “near-total telecoms blackout” in January 2024 that lasted for days.
Israel has long restricted Gaza to outdated 2G mobile technology while allowing 4G in the occupied West Bank.
The telecommunications sector’s value has cratered from $13m in 2023 to just $1.5m in 2024, an 89 percent collapse. Estimated losses exceed half a billion dollars, while reconstruction is projected to cost at least $90m.
The consequences ripple across Gaza’s economy and society.
Remote work was a crucial income source in a territory where unemployment exceeded 79 percent even before October 2023. Now, erratic internet access has pushed many freelancers into joblessness just as Israeli-induced famine has sent food prices soaring.
The telecommunications collapse has also paralysed the banking system, preventing money transfers and leaving families unable to access cash. Healthcare has been disrupted, with the World Health Organization documenting deaths caused by the inability to contact emergency services in time.
Even during the fragile ceasefire that took effect in October 2025, Israel has blocked essential repair equipment from entering Gaza. The restrictions form part of what analysts describe as a deliberate strategy to maintain control over Palestinian digital infrastructure and suppress the flow of information to the outside world.
The future remains deeply uncertain, as efforts to push a fragile ceasefire forward appear to stall and Israel threatens the possibility of returning to full-scale war.
Kitsch Liao, associate director at the Atlantic Council Global China Hub, says Beijing’s reaction to the largest US arms sale to Taiwan is an information warfare tactic.
Published On 18 Dec 202518 Dec 2025
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The Eurovision likes to sell itself as a glittering exercise in European unity, colorful, loud, proudly diverse, and (officially) above politics. Yet anyone who has watched the contest with both eyes open knows that “apolitical” has always been more of a brand promise than a lived reality. In late 2025, that gap widened into a full-blown crisis, as a number of broadcasters reported across outlets that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Iceland signaled they would not take part in Eurovision 2026 after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided not to exclude Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Palestine.
This episode is not simply “politics invading culture.” It reflects a shift in how legitimacy is demanded and contested in Europe’s cultural diplomacy, particularly when public broadcasters operate under constant online scrutiny. A constructivist lens helps explain why withdrawal can become socially “appropriate” not only because of interests, but because identities, norms, and public expectations set the boundaries of acceptable action.
Eurovision’s political DNA
Eurovision was launched in 1956 as a post-war cultural bridge. Its origin story is important: a shared stage was meant to build familiarity, and familiarity was meant to soften rivalry. That heritage still shapes the contest’s self-image. But Eurovision has long functioned as a stage where politics appears in coded ways through voting patterns, representation debates, and symbolic messaging.
In 2026, the argument is no longer coded. The EBU’s insistence that Eurovision must remain apolitical is being tested by publics who increasingly expect cultural institutions to reflect basic humanitarian values. This tension has been building for years, but the Palestine crisis and the EBU’s decisions have turned it into a legitimacy problem, not merely a public relations headache.
Why withdrawal became “appropriate”
Constructivism in international relations focuses on how identities and norms shape behavior. States and national institutions do not act only from material interests; they also act from what is socially acceptable, what fits their self-image, and the expectations of their audiences.
Three dynamics stand out.
Identity signalling, domestically and externally
For several withdrawing countries, participation carried an identity cost. Public broadcasters—especially those that see themselves as guardians of civic values—operate within national narratives about solidarity, rights, and moral responsibility. Remaining in the contest while public debate framed Israel’s participation as incompatible with humanitarian concerns risked looking like complicity or indifference. Withdrawal, by contrast, functioned as a signal: this is who we are, and this is the line we will not cross.
Importantly, this signalling was not addressed only to external audiences. It was also addressed inward towards domestic publics, artists, and civil society networks. In many European societies, those constituencies are no longer passive consumers of cultural events; they are active participants in the reputational economy surrounding public institutions.
Norm cascades and moral momentum
Once a few broadcasters moved towards withdrawal, the decision quickly gained social momentum. This is what Finnemore and Sikkink described as a “norm cascade”: when a norm shifts from being optional to being expected, and the reputational cost of non-compliance rises. In practical terms, it can start to feel safer to leave than to stay—because staying invites condemnation, while leaving can be framed as moral coherence.
This is also why the dispute escalated so quickly. A single broadcaster withdrawing is a story. Multiple broadcasters withdrawing is a pattern, and patterns trigger moral comparisons. The question changes from “Why did they leave?” to “Why are you still staying?”
The ‘apolitical’ norm is under strain because it looks selective.
The apolitical claim does not collapse simply because people become more emotional. It collapses when it appears inconsistent. Critics repeatedly pointed to Russia’s exclusion in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine and asked why a different standard was being applied now. The EBU, for its part, has emphasized the contest’s non-political ethos and introduced new rules aimed at insulating Eurovision from government influence.
But in the public sphere, the argument is not purely procedural. It is moral and comparative: if Eurovision can act decisively in one case, why not in another?
Constructivism predicts that institutions struggle when the norms they rely on no longer align with the moral intuitions of their audiences. That is exactly what this crisis reveals.
Digital activism as a legitimacy engine
If this controversy had happened twenty years ago, it would likely have moved more slowly, mediated by newspapers and official statements. Today it unfolds in a real-time digital public sphere where narratives travel quickly across borders and reputational costs escalate fast. Online mobilization—through petitions, artist statements, and hashtag campaigns—helped turn Eurovision into a symbolic battleground, pressuring broadcasters to respond to highly visible moral claims.
Two effects matter most. First, digital dynamics accelerate moral consolidation, which means once “selective neutrality” becomes a dominant frame, hesitation itself is read as a political stance. Second, institutions face continuous visibility. Decisions are no longer a single event but an ongoing justification process, renewed by viral moments and high-profile protest actions linked to Israel’s inclusion.
For cultural diplomacy, this shifts the logic of soft power from image-making towards moral credibility under public scrutiny.
Withdrawal as cultural diplomacy
Withdrawal from Eurovision is, in a strict sense, symbolic. But symbolism is precisely what cultural diplomacy trades in. The act of leaving, particularly when done by public broadcasters, served three strategic functions.
First, moral signalling, which meansbroadcasters and states communicated alignment with humanitarian values and a refusal to normalize perceived injustice.
The second one is reputation management. In a digital environment, silence can be more costly than action. Withdrawal can reduce domestic backlash and preserve trust in public institutions.
Last, this is ethical positioning as soft power. The logic of soft power is shifting from colorful branding to ethical coherence. A state may gain credibility not by appearing “fun,” but by appearing consistent with its professed values.
These functions help explain why the controversy is bigger than Eurovision. What is being tested is the idea that cultural platforms can remain insulated from global crises. Many audiences no longer accept that separation.
The EBU’s dilemma: rules, legitimacy, and consistency
The EBU now sits at the center of competing demands. On one side is the institutional need for predictability: rules that keep Eurovision from becoming an arena for state-to-state confrontation. On the other side is the public demand for moral consistency: rules that do not appear selective or politically convenient.
The EBU’s recent approach of avoiding an immediate exclusion decision while adjusting rules—may be defensible from a governance perspective.
Yet governance solutions do not automatically restore legitimacy, because legitimacy is also emotional and relational. It depends on whether audiences believe the institution is acting in good faith and applying standards fairly.
This is where cultural diplomacy meets a hard truth: neutrality is not simply declared; it is earned. And in the digital age, it is re-earned continuously.
What this means for Europe’s cultural diplomacy
Three implications stand out.
First, moral expectation is becoming structural. European publics increasingly demand moral coherence not only from governments but from cultural institutions as well. Cultural diplomacy is being asked to carry ethical weight.
Second, “European values” are being operationalized. They are no longer abstract slogans. They are used as benchmarks to judge institutions and to accuse them of hypocrisy when they fall short.
Third, public opinion has become a strategic force, not background noise. Digital mobilization can shape state behavior indirectly by pressuring broadcasters, artists, and institutions that sit at the heart of national identity.
Policy takeaways
If the EBU seeks to protect Eurovision’s legitimacy without turning it into a geopolitical tribunal, three steps would help. First, it should clarify participation principles by defining what “neutrality” means operationally and what thresholds trigger institutional action. Second, it should build a credible consistency mechanism, as audiences will continue comparing cases and demanding transparent reasoning. Third, the EBU should treat the digital sphere as part of governance: proactive engagement and rapid clarification now shape institutional survival as much as formal rule-making.
Conclusion
Eurovision 2026 is not simply a cultural controversy with political noise attached. It is a case study in how identity, norms, and digital activism are reshaping Europe’s cultural diplomacy. Constructivism helps explain why withdrawal became not only possible but, for some, necessary: it aligned state-linked institutions with the moral expectations of their publics.
Eurovision was built to bridge Europe after war. Ironically, its newest crisis shows that unity today is conditional: audiences increasingly expect cultural institutions to be transparent, consistent, and ethically credible, especially when global suffering is impossible to ignore.
The global banking industry is currently in the midst of a profound digital transformation, propelled by the accelerating pace of technological advancements and the continuously evolving expectations of modern consumers and clients.
At the vanguard of this monumental shift are the World’s Best Digital Banks 2025, institutions that are not merely adapting to change but actively demonstrating how innovative digital strategies can fundamentally reshape and redefine the landscape of financial services.
These leading digital banks excel by integrating strategic vision, a customer-centric approach, and robust technology such as AI, blockchain, and the cloud. This combination offers tailored solutions both for individual consumers through personalized experiences and for businesses via sophisticated digital platforms, creating new financial interaction paradigms for the 21st century.
Bank of Georgia
For the second consecutive year, Global Finance has named Bank of Georgia (BOG) the World’s Best Digital Bank and Best Consumer Digital Bank. This achievement highlights BOG’s commitment and leadership in digital banking, stemming from a strategic vision, customer focus, and in-house technological innovation.
At the core of BOG’s strategy is CEO Archil Gachechiladze’s “customer obsession.” This principle drives the bank to deliver intuitive, inclusive, and customer-centric banking. BOG achieves this by consistently understanding and adapting to the evolving demands of its diverse customer base.
A 700-strong, in-house IT team powers BOG’s digital agility. This team develops the bank’s core banking system, digital channels, and payment platforms. This self-reliance provides a competitive advantage, fostering rapid iteration and feature delivery. Minimizing third-party dependencies gives BOG control over its technological road map, allowing swift responses to market changes. The bank’s microservices-based architecture has accelerated application development and transaction processing, boosting efficiency.
The bank has established itself as a leading innovator by developing an open-banking API marketplace—a catalog of APIs available to third parties, enabling integration of BOG’s services into third-party platforms—facilitating an ecosystem with hundreds of partners. This initiative significantly enhances the customer experience through a comprehensive mobile application that functions as a “financial super app,” says Gachechiladze. Going beyond traditional banking, the app integrates BOG’s Personal Finance Management tool for budgeting and spending analysis. It also proactively identifies and presents personalized loan and credit opportunities, including buy now, pay later options. The “super app” extends its utility beyond finance, incorporating services such as in-app stock trading; digital gift card purchases; and diverse payment solutions for transportation, covering car-related expenses including fines and parking, as well as public transport passes.
Customer convenience is central to BOG’s digital strategy. The bank offers 24/7 digital onboarding, allowing new customers to open accounts and receive digital debit cards instantly. This is supported by continuous, multichannel customer support via text, phone, or video chat.
BOG’s digital transformation includes innovative payment solutions. These involve using smartphones as payment terminals for small businesses and individuals. The bank has also pioneered face-recognition technology for payments. Furthermore, BOG developed a dedicated mobile application for businesses, streamlining operations and transactions.
DBS Bank
DBS Bank’s status as a leading digital bank is the result of a comprehensive digital-transformation strategy launched in 2014 with the goal of making banking effortless and seamless. This success is built upon several critical pillars.
The first of these foundational pillars is DBS’ commitment to tangible value from its technology, beginning with rigorous quantification of AI investments, attributing substantial financial gains to these initiatives. These gains are projected to reach 750 million Singapore dollars (about US$577 million) in 2024 and surpass SG$1 billion in 2025, a tangible demonstration of value that distinguishes the bank from its competitors.
Building on this strategic investment, DBS has industrialized its AI strategy, deploying over 1,500 AI and machine learning models across more than 370 use cases. These encompass internal operations, such as AI-driven audits for enhanced risk management; and a generative-AI (Gen AI) platform, DBS-GPT, that supports over 90% of staff, saving thousands of employee-days annually. Customer service is further enhanced by Gen AI–powered assistants that efficiently transcribe and summarize queries, while personalized nudges provide proactive financial guidance to clients.
Beyond consumer and internal applications, DBS prioritizes the customer journey for institutions and for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) through the bank’s Managing through Journeys program. Digital innovations have led to a significant 30% reduction in time to open corporate accounts for SMEs in Singapore and halved the time required for implementing payment and collection API mandates. The bank’s digital lending platform for SMEs provides faster financing with improved credit risk assessment, resulting in a double-digit reduction in time-to-cash (the time it takes for a business to receive financing).
Complementing DBS’ internal strategy, an extensive ecosystem and API strategy that boasts over 400 partners empowers the bank to acquire new business without incurring traditional customer acquisition costs. DBS has also pioneered institutional blockchain services, facilitating instant multicurrency transaction settlements.
Finally, DBS’ success is deeply rooted in a fundamental cultural shift toward an agile, innovation-driven environment, mirroring a technology startup. This decade-long journey has been guided by a clear vision to “make banking joyful” through seamless digital experiences, a commitment now extended to corporate and institutional clients who can enjoy the same seamless and “joyful” banking experience as consumers.
Boubyan Bank
For the past decade, Boubyan Bank has consistently been recognized by Global Finance as the World’s Best Islamic Digital Bank. This achievement is a testament to its strategic vision, which seamlessly integrates digital innovation with Islamic principles through a sustainable and focused approach.
Boubyan has successfully forged a “digital-first” Islamic identity, demonstrating that Islamic banking can be modern, digital, and highly appealing to a tech-savvy audience, particularly younger generations. The bank’s strategy is built on prioritizing customer satisfaction, driving revenue growth, and achieving cost reduction through innovative digital solutions.
As a pioneer in the Kuwaiti market, Boubyan offers “first-in-Kuwait” products that simplify banking and deliver unique value to both retail and business customers. Key innovations include Msa3ed, or Musaed, an AI-powered conversational banking assistant that provides instant support in both Arabic and English, further enhanced by Gen AI for more-intelligent interactions. Another significant milestone is the launch of Nomo: a UK-based, sharia-compliant, digital bank enabling Middle Eastern customers with international lifestyles to swiftly open UK accounts, offering multicurrency payments, international transfers, and sharia-compliant investment opportunities. Additionally, Boubyan provides a comprehensive suite of digital solutions for SMEs, such as ePay for collections and eRent for real estate management.
Customer experience is paramount to Boubyan’s digital strategy, meticulously guided by human-centered design. The bank consistently achieves high customer-satisfaction ratings, with an impressive 99% of financial transactions conducted through its mobile app. The bank’s numerous awards for customer service further underscore that Boubyan’s digital convenience is seamlessly supported by a robust service ethos.
Boubyan’s Digital Innovation Center facilitates rapid product launches unencumbered by legacy systems. The bank actively collaborates with global and regional fintech partners to integrate cutting-edge technologies, such as Snowdrop Solutions for data enrichment.
Internally, Boubyan harnesses AI for operational excellence. This is exemplified by the automation of corporate risk assessment, which has dramatically reduced processing time from weeks to mere hours. AI is also deployed to optimize call centers and enhance internal workflows, showcasing a comprehensive commitment to efficiency that extends beyond customer-facing tools.
Bank of Georgia, DBS, and Boubyan underscore a fundamental truth: The future of banking is undeniably digital. These institutions demonstrate how a relentless focus on innovation, customer experience, and technological agility can drive sustained growth and market leadership. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, these banks’ achievements serve as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of digital banking, inspiring the industry to embrace a future where financial services are more accessible, efficient, and seamlessly integrated into daily life.
‘Phygital’ strategies and tools help consumer banks blend advanced technology and AI with accessibility and financial inclusion.
A wave of innovation is reshaping consumer banking, moving a business estimated at some $70 trillion worldwide beyond simple online transactions to create integrated, customer-centric financial ecosystems. A primary feature of this transformation is the shift to super apps and beyond-banking models, which aggregate a comprehensive suite of financial and nonfinancial services—from credit and investments to communication and e-commerce—on a single, secure digital platform. Often, this shift is enabled by leveraging open-banking principles and APIs to foster a broader, more interconnected digital ecosystem.
Accessibility and financial inclusion remain central, however, as banks deploy “phygital” strategies that blend advanced technology with human touchpoints to ensure seamless access even in geographic areas with limited physical or digital infrastructure. Tools include mobile virtual-network operators (MVNOs) that do not own their own wireless network infrastructure and the USSD (unstructured supplementary service data) communication protocol that allows mobile phones to interact directly with a service provider’s systems.
Strategic application of machine learning and AI, meanwhile, is driving internal efficiencies in risk management and process automation and enhancing the customer experience through personalized product offerings and intelligent, real-time, decision-making for services like loan approvals. Convenience and security remain top of mind as banks adopt payment innovations like PayShap, QR, and tap-to-pay; sophisticated fraud-monitoring systems; and unique features designed to build trust and simplify complex daily financial activities.
Taken together, these innovations amount to a sweeping cultural change, as well as process change for banks whose customer base runs the gamut from beginner to highly sophisticated. This year’s regional winners exemplify the effort needed to get it right.
First National Bank
South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB) offers FNB Connect, an integrated digital financial platform including banking, credit, insurance, investments, and communication within a secure ecosystem. FNB serves 7.7 million digital customers who log into the app 156 million times monthly. As South Africa’s highest-rated banking app, it does duty as a personal banker, financial coach, and e-commerce hub, offering consumers an omnichannel experience driven by intuitive design, automation, and personalization.
“FNB Connect drives our ‘beyond banking’ vision by integrating connectivity, devices, and digital services into one ecosystem,” says FNB Connect CEO Sashin Sookroo. “In rural and periurban areas where physical banking infrastructure is limited, our MVNO offering ensures customers remain connected to digital platforms, enabling secure transactions and access to financial tools. Together, these pillars bridge the gap between connectivity and financial inclusion, accelerating digital adoption where traditional channels are out of reach.”
FNB is working to reduce communication costs through zero-rated banking channels, rewards, and free WhatsApp; and to make technology accessible via curated products such as solar energy and water tanks with eBucks Rewards. The bank’s service-provider portfolio allows customers to top up airtime/electricity or redeem vouchers at over 400,000 locations, eliminating the need to travel to urban centers. FNB’s CashPlus and AgencyPlus initiatives blend technology with human touchpoints to deliver a phygital experience, notes Fazlen Khan, channel management head for Broader Africa, ensuring financial services are inclusive and accessible for all communities.
Taiwan Business Bank (TBB)
Although best known as Taiwan’s only dedicated SME bank, TBB has extended the same digital strengths to its consumer channels, creating a unified experience across retail and business customers. “Through model-based analysis of financial conditions and market dynamics,” says Lawrence Tsai, TBB’s manager of Digital Banking, “TBB predicts future funding needs, offering precise financial solutions to enhance business planning and operational efficiency.” Its micro-enterprise e-loan platform is specifically designed for SME financing, aligning the bank’s application processes, review logic, and product design with the distinct needs of small and midsized enterprises.
TBB offers an industry-first, comprehensive one-stop online experience for business applications and contract execution. Thanks to extensive use of optical character recognition, MyData integration, robotic process automation (RPA), and real-time decision-making systems, the bank reports it has reduced the time required for application submission from 15 minutes to two, and review time from two days to 40 minutes. Business owners can scan necessary documents using a mobile device or upload them via computer; the system automatically retrieves data through the National Development Council’s MyData database, enabling application completion in just 10 minutes.
Bank of Georgia
Bank of Georgia’s digital efforts have cut costs by more than 30% and achieved 90%-plus online service access, it reports, rewarding the bank with consistent industry recognition. Its super app offers investment services as well as “Buy Now, Pay Later.”
Bank of Georgia leverages open banking APIs to create a broader, highly interconnected digital ecosystem and prioritize a customer-centric experience with high digital adoption, seamless processes including remote account opening and instant digital cards, and enhanced support via chatbots and 24/7 in-app assistance. The bank is integrating machine learning and AI for risk management and process improvement and to create highly personalized product offerings. These include AI-driven SME loan approvals, cutting processing time for a significant share of clients.
Banco Banamex
Banamex offers intelligent and personalized payment via its digital ecosystem. Customers can conveniently pay bills, transfer money, and make purchases with digital cards using the Banamex app and online banking while integration with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay allows for fast, contactless payments tailored to customer lifestyles. In April, the bank launched Banamex Switch, a 100% digital account aimed at Gen Z, through which users can access digital account opening; digital credit cards; exclusive digital promotions, personalization, security, and control; and 24/7 assistance.
Commerical Bank of Qatar
Commercial Bank of Qatar’s digital platform offers over 150 services including geofencing for real-time card offers and automatic branch appointment token issuance (within 10 meters), eliminating manual kiosk interaction. A 60-second remittance service provides fast transfers to over 40 countries. IBM Safer Payments, an intelligent fraud monitoring system, analyzes transactions across digital channels, ensuring scam incidents are rare, while CBsafe ID protects against fraudulent calls via call verification, enhancing trust.
Bank of America
Digital services are central to client relationships at Bank of America (BofA), driving growth and personalized experiences through industry-leading digital capabilities integrated with its financial and call centers. Last year, BofA clients’ digital interactions rose 12% to hit a record 26 billion. The launch of the bank’s unified mobile app last year enables clients to access all their banking, investment, and retirement accounts via any Merrill, Private Bank, Benefits Online, or BofA app. Erica, BofA’s comprehensive virtual financial assistant, manages clients’ full financial relationships, including initiation of applications in physical centers and completing them digitally. Lately, Erica has also been of use to clients affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year, making information available about BofA’s Client Assistance Program.
“We prioritize our multibillion-dollar technology investment by focusing on scalable innovation that delivers real value to our clients and employees,” says Tom Ellis, head of Consumer Technology. “From AI-driven tools like Erica to advanced data analytics and cybersecurity, our goal is to ensure every digital interaction is smarter, more personalized, and more efficient—year after year.”
Eurobank
Eurobank enhances 24/7 customer support through multiple digital channels, including interactive assistance via personal and bulk messages; private online chat through Click2Chat; and a video teller service for scheduling meetings, uploading documents, and applying for products. The bank’s digital channels also provide user-friendly investment tools, enabling real-time stock transactions, mutual fund management, and a global investment portfolio view, plus personalized product suggestions and credit offerings.
For daily financial activities, Eurobank integrates customizable payments, such as recurring and bulk options, with account aggregation for a unified view of the customer’s accounts. Features like real-time alerts, payee verification, fee calculators, personalized transaction suggestions, searchable history, repeat payments, and contactless options simplify transactions and link to a digital rewards program.
Consumer banking is moving far beyond traditional branch-based models.
A clear trend is the ascendancy of the “super app” strategy, where institutions consolidate hundreds of functions—from daily banking and wealth management to lifestyle services like transport and stock trading—into a single, seamless digital ecosystem.
Complementing this is the pervasive integration of artificial intelligence (AI) that is evolving from a customer service tool to a core driver of personalized financial advice, fraud prevention, and hyperefficient digital lending.
Furthermore, the focus on user experience (UX) and robust information security has intensified, with banks prioritizing intuitive design, unified platforms, and advanced defense mechanisms like SIM-card fraud joint defense to build trust in a mobile-first world.
Finally, the pioneering of open-banking APIs and agile transformation demonstrates a move toward a more collaborative and financially inclusive industry, expanding access to underserved populations and leveraging technology to embed financial services deeper into customers’ daily lives.
Rakuten Bank
Rakuten Bank distinguishes itself within the competitive digital-only banking sector by adopting a full-service, universal-bank model. This approach moves beyond the typically limited offerings of many neobanks,
providing a truly comprehensive suite of banking products and financial services accessible entirely through the bank’s robust online and mobile platforms. This universal digital scope caters to a broad clientele, serving the complete financial needs of both individual consumers and corporate entities.
The expansive array of services offered includes core banking functions such as standard banking, lending solutions, investment and wealth management, corporate finance, foreign exchange, and international services. By integrating these diverse financial pillars—from daily transactions to complex financing and investment—Rakuten Bank provides a singular, highly digitalized ecosystem where customers can manage virtually every aspect of their financial life without the need for a physical branch.
Commercial Bank of Qatar
Commercial Bank of Qatar leads in consumer digital payments due to its first-to-market approach and focus on secure, seamless experiences. Innovations supporting Qatar’s move toward a cashless society include the CB Pay mobile wallet, wearable payments, contactless “Tap N Pay” cards, mPay QR-code payments, and 60-second international remittances, all designed for convenience and speed.
Arab Bank
Arab Bank delivers a unified, seamless digital experience. The bank’s strategy focuses on integrating platforms for a consistent customer journey, using data analytics for personalized engagement, and adopting a mobile-first approach with its Arabi Mobile app. The bank prioritizes speed and efficiency through digitized processes, enabling quick loan approvals and convenient digital onboarding. Arab Bank also excels at bill payment and presentment by creating a smoothly integrated and customer-centric digital ecosystem.
Bank of Georgia
Bank of Georgia excels in Central and Eastern Europe with a super-app strategy, offering a broad and seamlessly integrated digital ecosystem. This includes digital lending (80% uptake), in-app stock trading, and lifestyle services such as digital gift cards and public-transport management. The bank leverages AI for personalized financial advice, product recommendations, and enhanced security, driving digital growth and boosting customer loyalty.
Bank of America
Bank of America (BofA) excels in UX design, offering a seamless, unified, and personalized digital experience. The bank consolidated five apps into one platform with an intuitive Accounts Overview. BofA’s AI assistant, Erica, simplifies tasks and provides proactive, personalized insights through natural-language interactions, assistance with finding transactions, locking and unlocking debit cards, and snapshots of spending. BofA also prioritizes security with features like QR code sign-on. And the bank actively seeks client feedback.
Isbank
Isbank İşCep is recognized as a leading mobile banking app due to its super-app strategy and AI integration. It offers over 800 functions, from financial management to lifestyle needs. The bank’s AI assistant, Maxi, handled over 103 million conversations in 2024, providing personalized financial guidance. With over 80% of transactions on mobile and an 88.1% customer-satisfaction rate, İşCep demonstrates a successful digital strategy.
“Users shouldn’t be forced to manage their finances across multiple mobile apps. We understand that, ultimately, they desire a single, personalized finance application,” asserts Sezgin Lüle, deputy CEO at Isbank. “The opportunity exists to expand beyond traditional banking functions by incorporating nonbanking services through strategic partnerships. This approach promotes a collaborative ecosystem, especially with startups, positioning us as a financial ecosystem builder rather than just a bank.”
Taiwan Business Bank (TBB)
Taiwan Business Bank (TBB) excels in digital security and fraud management, employing a “three lines of defense” framework and continuous risk monitoring. The bank’s mobile app features a “mobile security shield” and dual-protection locks. TBB also partners with fintechs for AI-driven fraud prevention, sharing anonymized data to combat payment and remittance fraud effectively.
TBB leads the financial industry in security innovation by partnering with telecom, e-payment, and technology sectors to launch Taiwan’s first SIM-card fraud joint-defense mechanism. Through integrating the SIM-card reissuance anti-fraud communication API, TBB cross-verifies users’ SIM status during e-payment account linking, effectively identifying high-risk activities. As a result, the number of users linking TBB accounts to e-payments apps has tripled.
TBB is also actively deploying AI technologies and will officially establish its “AI Lab” soon. The AI Lab will serve as a crucial engine for technological innovation and cross-departmental collaboration. It will facilitate the practical implementation of AI applications and deepen digital transformation.
Liberty Bank
Liberty Bank leverages data-driven communication and centralized campaign management for consistent and effective messaging. The bank builds community on social media by fostering relationships and providing meaningful content. Liberty’s social media success stems from an integrated digital transformation and strategic investment in technology. Targeted campaigns like “One of Us” support specific business goals and brand identity.
Bancolombia
Bancolombia is known for its agile transformation, rapid product development, and commitment to financial inclusion. Its successful digital-only bank, Nequi, exemplifies Bancolombia’s innovative approach, providing accessible financial services to millions, including underserved populations and a mobile-first generation.
Millennium BCP
Millennium BCP leads in open banking, a success driven by the bank’s advanced technological infrastructure and strategy. The core is Millennium’s pioneering API platform, which is the central nervous system enabling seamless, secure data exchange with third parties. A developer-first approach complements this, cultivating an ecosystem for external developers. The bank provides comprehensive, easy-to-use APIs, robust sandboxes, and testing environments, encouraging fintechs to build new consumer services on its infrastructure. Crucially, the operation is underpinned by an unwavering commitment to security and compliance with regulations such as the EU’s Revised Payment Services Directive. These open-banking achievements are integrated into a cohesive, institution-wide digital-transformation strategy, solidifying the bank’s position as a provider of cutting-edge digital financial services.
Banco Popular Dominicano
With Banco Popular Dominicano’s “More Digital, More Human” strategy, the bank combines advanced digital channels like its App Popular with personalized interaction with humans, such as remote financial officers and people at reimagined branches. The bank also expands its ecosystem by embedding services in other businesses and leveraging technology for efficiency, security, and financial inclusion.
Global Finance (GF): What are the bank’s signature digital products and services, and what differentiates them?
Zoran Petrovic (ZP): As part of our five-year transformation journey, we’ve launched or improved several digital products and services. We have two “signature” offerings:
These products are available for retail and SME clients, enabling us to meet the needs of more customer segments.
GF: How have you made complex banking and payments processes more simple, while also enhancing the user experience?
ZP: We are increasingly providing customers with simplicity and speed. For example, at the end of 2024, we introduced a one-click payment feature for investment funds. In its first six months, it accounted for a 70% share of customers’ total investments, helping Raiffeisen Invest surpass EUR 1bn in AUM.
More recently, we became the first bank in our market to introduce deep link technology for peer-to-peer payments. This allows clients to send and request money without inputting recipients’ information. Our SME customers can now see and approve invoices via one simple and convenient customer interface: our mobile banking app. Over 25% of these clients are already using it and 98% of all outgoing payments use digital channels.
Further, in addition to providing real-time information on SME accounts and transactions, our AI tools analyse past behaviour of SME clients, enabling better cash flow predictions to help plan their finances.
GF: How effective has your strategy been in attracting digital customers?
ZP: Since launching iRačun (iAccount), more than 250,000 customers – mostly individuals – have opened fully digital accounts with us. Last year, we achieved 50% market share in the total number of customers opening online accounts across Serbia. We also became the biggest SME bank with over 100,000 active clients, nearly doubling our client base in only two and a half years.
In addition, our mobile app is the most widely used in Serbia, with over 500,000 users, and has the highest ranking on app stores. Finally, we’ve seen double-digit growth in the total number of active retail customers year-on-year, driven by digital customer engagement efforts.
GF: Given innovation is core to a successful digital offering, what’s your approach?
ZP: Everything we do starts with the customer. We understand who they are and what they need, and then innovate in the design of our products and services to suit them. We can quickly identify and seize emerging opportunities by applying the “permanent agile innovation organisation at scale” approach used by the best tech companies globally. That includes hiring and developing the best talent. To make all that possible, there is close collaboration between the business, our IT function and external resources. They work as one team with common goals.
GF: What’s next on your digital agenda?
ZP: We will continue to digitally empower our clients and employees, fulfilling our vision of being Serbia’s digital bank with a human touch. To do this, we created specialist teams and programmes to ensure the adoption of AI. With mobile expected to become the primary touchpoint with our clients, we will ensure we have the necessary tools and capabilities.
Making SME lending faster and more efficient is one of our key areas under development. We also see strong potential in further scaling our investment business by allowing clients to open investment accounts fully online or purchase international stocks directly from the mobile app.
We will also continue to make daily banking tasks even easier and more enjoyable by implementing world class UX standards and extending mobile self-service capabilities for customers’ accounts, cards, and profiles.
Through these initiatives, we plan to celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2026 by reaching the milestone of one million active clients.
