winners

Artificial intelligence is transforming the banking industry, streamlining operations, improving risk management, and enhancing the customer experience.

Best Payments

Akbank

Aiming to enhance back-office efficiency and reduce friction, Akbank implemented an AI-driven solution in 2024, training an open-source LLM on over 100,000 banking documents. The custom-tailored LLM tool reinforces secure and compliant operations within the bank’s own data centers and is accelerating back-office automation, significantly improving accuracy, security, and overall efficiency, and underscoring the bank’s dedication to AI innovation and regulatory compliance.

Akbank is utilizing this AI-driven model primarily to automate payment order processing for both customers and regulatory institutions; it also plays an important role in automating back-office transaction orders, significantly reducing the need for manual intervention.

Best Chatbots & Virtual Assistants

CaixaBank

CaixaBank’s employees now have access to NOA, a GenAI-powered assistant designed to provide accurate answers to internal questions using NLP. The tool is a first for CaixaBank, setting a new standard for AI-driven operational efficiency at CaixaBank. Unlike traditional knowledge management systems, it eliminates the need for manual searching by directly retrieving precise information from the bank’s extensive internal documentation. In so doing, NOA has fundamentally altered the process by which 45,000 CaixaBank personnel access information, reducting the necessity for escalating issues and enhancing query resolution efficiency. The system currently handles more than 8 million queries a year, reducing response times and elevating the overall employee experience. User adoption has been swift, attributed to NOA’s intuitive interface and seamless integration within workflows.

Best Enhanced Customer Experience

DBS Bank

DBS Bank pioneered an industry-first Negative Customer Impact (NCI) Control Tower in 2024 that enhances service management by identifying customer pain points and “silent sufferers” in real time. It focuses on key customer journeys to detect performance anomalies early, enabling an effective and timely response while minimizing customer impact.

The NCI Control Tower provides crucial transparency on customer behavior and client performance data to platform and business owners, facilitating ongoing improvement of the customer journey. This comprehensive approach, covering a broad spectrum of service performance dimensions, significantly enhances DBS’s resilience and response capabilities. Since its launch, NCI teams have scaled across more than 15 customer-facing channels, encompassing the delivery of more than 300 customer journeys.

Best Personalized Financial Advice

QIB

QIB’s upgraded AI-driven Next Best Offer (NBO) 2.0 recommendation engine uses deep learning on customer behavior, transactions, and financial patterns to deliver personalized, real-time financial product recommendations. Its key feature is non-intrusive, seamless integration into QIB’s mobile app, providing tailored product information without disrupting core banking.

The AI algorithms evolve, improving accuracy and engagement over time. NBO 2.0 analyzes over 1,600 customer attributes—including demographics, holdings, transactions, and interaction data over five years—to pinpoint the customer’s financial journey stage and suggest the most appropriate products. It also provides valuable data for product portfolio refinement.

Best Private Banking

Bank of Georgia

Bank of Georgia (BoG) is setting a new standard in client acquisition with a dual strategy for identifying and converting high-potential, affluent clients who primarily bank elsewhere. By leveraging these external sources, BoG can detect “invisible” high-income individuals who have minimal engagement with the bank’s current ecosystem: a significant improvement over traditional identification methods that rely on publicly available external data. This fusion of AI and strategic intelligence provides a tailored approach to building the client base, making BOG a leader in data-driven banking innovation.

Best Fraud Detection And Prevention

Banamex

Banamex is employing AI and machine learning, specifically including neural networks, for real-time fraud detection and prevention. The bank reports a 70% reduction in attempted fraud since it integrated AI throughout its operations in March 2024. Banamex combines rules-based systems, data mining, and neural networks to activate a unified system capable of instantaneous analysis and response to potentially fraudulent activities.

A critical element involves implementing the FICO Falcon Fraud Manager solution. The real-time processing capabilities of the tool’s neural network models mitigate fraud-related losses and enhance detection accuracy by identifying fraud at the point of sale, prior to transaction completion. Its AI infrastructure processes voluminous amounts of transaction data in real time to discern patterns, anomalies, and deviations from behavioral norms, enabling it to promptly flag and potentially inhibit suspicious transactions.

Best Credit Assessment

Banamex

Banamex is leveraging AI to revolutionize its credit assessment process, shifting from slow, traditional methods to real-time evaluations. AI algorithms analyze vast datasets, incorporating up to 200 variables—including traditional financial metrics and potential alternative sources like geolocation—to create a comprehensive, multidimensional, and more accurate view of the applicant’s creditworthiness. This dynamic model significantly improves decision-making speed, the bank reports, particularly for high-volume tasks, and enhances overall operational efficiency by automating data processing and analysis.

AI and data analytics deliver tangible customer benefits as well. Faster credit approvals and personalized services, driven by AI insights, elevate the overall customer experience and thereby help Banamex maintain a competitive advantage in Mexico’s rapidly evolving financial sector.

Crucially, AI-powered credit assessment contributes to the goal of financial inclusion by providing the opportunity to enter the formal banking system to prospects with limited or no established financial history. Typically, the options available to low-income individuals or those operating only in the informal economy are limited in capacity, come with substantially higher annual percentage rates, and may involve tough collection practices. Access to financing from a formal player like Banamex can be a life-changing event for these applicants.

Best Risk Management

BBVA

BBVA utilizes Mexico’s extensive transfer network, analyzing both direct and indirect data including recurring client-to-nonclient transactions, to accurately estimate client income. This enables effective assessment of those with limited banking activity, optimizing the credit offer based on true financial stability.

Transfer analysis is the foundation of a sophisticated relationship model that identifies financial links and inherited assets and detects irregular activities like triangular movements and simulated income, enhancing accuracy and mitigating fraud. This enables BBVA to offer better-tailored financial products, promoting responsible and secure credit access.

The model is applied across BBVA’s entire client portfolio—those holding existing credit products and those not—providing a valuable tool for business units needing insights into clients’ economic standing and repayment capacity. Integrating multiple data sources—including credit bureau reports, investments, transactions, relationship graphs, and payroll—ensures thorough evaluation, reducing risk and optimizing credit allocation. This multisource approach yields precise opportunity identification, ensuring BBVA’s marketing campaigns align with its risk appetite while minimizing exposure to clients who lack financial capacity.

A critical component is assigning a predicted income range, refining the bank’s marketing campaigns to align with a predetermined risk level. This leads to enhanced prediction stability and optimized credit offers, ultimately maximizing profitability and reducing default risk.

Best Fintech

CTBC

CTBC Bank’s AI Cheque Check is notable as Taiwan’s first AI-based check recognition system, achieving over 90% accuracy in interpreting traditional Chinese handwriting, the bank reports, by integrating advanced handwriting recognition and centralized processing.

Initially developed for internal use, it has significantly boosted check processing efficiency and accuracy across CTBC Bank’s branch network, eliminating the manual verification bottlenecks inherent in traditional processing, thereby accelerating check clearance and minimizing human error.

AI Cheque Check uniquely combines optical character recognition, structured transaction data, and AI-driven compliance checks to ensure smooth automation while maintaining crucial regulatory accuracy. It benefits the Taiwanese bank’s customers as well by speeding up transaction times and improving service quality.

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.

World’s Best Digital Bank and Best Consumer Digital Bank

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.

Best Corporate/Institutional Digital Bank

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.

Best Islamic Digital Bank

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.

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.

Best Digital-Only Bank

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.

Best Online Payments Solution

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.

Best Integrated Consumer Banking Site/ Best Bill Payment & Presentment

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.

Best in Lending/ Best Online Product Offerings

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.

Best User Experience (UX) Design

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.

Best Mobile Banking App

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.”

Best Information Security and Fraud Management

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.

Best in Social Media Marketing and Services

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.

Most Innovative Digital Bank

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.

Best Open Banking APIs

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.

Best in Transformation

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.