Financial services companies across the world demonstrated an outstanding ability to innovate and adapt to meet the rapidly changing needs of their customers.

The first edition of the Qorus Reinvention Awards recognized top innovators in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The awards shone a spotlight on some of the products and services, and the creative teams behind them, that had propelled leading innovators ahead of their competitors. The fourteen finalists operated in a wide range of countries with very diverse markets.

That year's Qorus Reinvention Awards - MEA recognized offerings that displayed exceptional ingenuity in improving customer experience, distribution, ESG, operations efficiency, and payments. They also recognized the SME Bank of the Year and acknowledged a promising new arrival or an existing player that was transforming for the future in the New & Transformed Players category. The highlight of the awards was the selection of the MEA Innovator of the Year from among the finalists whose vision committed them to continuous innovation.

The winners of the awards were announced at an in-person awards ceremony in Dubai on 11 October.

At the inaugural Qorus Reivention Awards - MEA 2013 ceremony, Antonio Coppolecchia, the Financial Services Lead EMEA at Accenture Song, offered his insights into the innovation journey by examining the submissions from banks in the Middle East and Africa. Additionally, he presented four key trends, supported by recent examples from institutions like Mobilink Microfinance Bank, Standard Bank, Allied Bank, Beyon Money, Riyad Bank, NBK, Rakbank, and Bank al Etihad.

The "Customer Experience" category celebrates financial institutions that have made significant enhancements in their marketing, sales, distribution, and their management of customer channels, communications, engagement, and relationships.

Gold winner
Vitality Next Best Action by Discovery (South Africa)
Discovery has enhanced its Vitality programme which uses data analytics and behavioural incentives to encourage its members to improve their health. The insurer has boosted the customer experience the programme delivers, making it more personal, and strengthened its ability to tackle two major health risks - smoking and obesity. Early results of the Vitality Next Best Action programme showed that 47% of members on the stop-smoking journey managed to quit, while 41% on the weight-loss journey lost at least 4% of their bodyweight. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
%50 Back - Salary Transfer Account Consolidation Campaign by ADIB (United Arab Emirates)
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has gained a lead on competitors by rewarding customers who consolidate their banking with the institution. It is giving clients a bonus equal to half their monthly salary when they transfer their personal or home financing and their salary payments to ADIB and sign up for one of the cards that the bank supports. The campaign has attracted more than 30,000 new customers and significantly increased the bank’s assets and deposits. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Token Program for Kids and Teenagers by Riyad Bank (Saudi Arabia)
Riyad Bank has teamed up with the Social Development Bank in Saudi Arabia to deliver a comprehensive savings and payments offering for children and teenagers. The Token banking programme uses gamification, digital instruction and a variety of incentives to encourage youngsters aged between 6 and 18 to improve their financial literacy and, under the supervision of their guardians, use banking services.  It has attracted nearly 75,000 users, increased bank deposits and built loyalty among young customers and their families. (Read the full case study)

The "Payments" category recognizes financial institutions that have introduced breakthrough concepts, dramatically enhancing and transforming the payments process, encompassing mobile payments, card payments, online payments, and wholesale payments.

Gold winner
Skiply Platform by Rakbank (United Arab Emirates)
Rakbank has developed a digital platform that allows users to pay fees to more than 200 educational institutions in the United Arab Emirates. As many as 130,000 people access the Skiply platform using a mobile app to manage and settle school and university accounts as well as related food, transport and uniform expenses. The secure payments platform can be integrated with merchants’ enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to ensure processing accuracy and efficiency. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
Absa Mobi Tap App (Botswana)
Absa has developed a payments app that enables informal traders in Botswana to use smartphones to settle transactions. The Mobi Tap app allows traders who cannot afford traditional banking services to accept card payments without needing to use point-of-sale devices. Absa has opened more than 200 Mobi Tap accounts and is working with the Botswana Postal Service to better reach traders in remote and under-served communities. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Digital Payments by NBK (Kuwait)
The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has rolled out a variety of payments products to provide its customers with greater convenience and a wider selection of services. Its payments offerings include the Quick Pay, FlexiPay and Selfie Pay mobile banking facilities, multiple mobile wallets and contactless payments services for fitness trackers, smartwatches and smartphones. To expand its digital payments channels, NBK has secured partnerships with 10 electronic payments agents in Kuwait. It has also established ties with the country’s eNet digital payments network. (Read the full case study)

 
The "Operational Efficiency" category commends financial institutions for implementing scalable processes that drive improved efficiency, supporting a faster pace of growth for the bank's revenue stream and asset base compared to its overhead costs.

Gold winner
Innovate By SAB (Saudi Awwal Bank)
Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) has launched a comprehensive programme to encourage and foster innovation throughout the organisation. The “Innovate By SAB” programme included awareness campaigns, workshops, bootcamps and a hackathon that promoted creativity and entrepreneurial thinking among the bank’s employees. It has prompted the drafting of a guide to sustainable innovation, greater commitment to collaboration and creativity among the workforce and the identification by employees of significant cost-saving opportunities. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
Digital Onboarding of Accounts for Individual Customers by Rakbank (United Arab Emirates)
Rakbank is using advanced digital technologies to improve the speed and efficiency of its onboarding process for personal accounts. It is employing facial recognition systems, electronic verification and risk-assessment algorithms to confirm the identity of prospective account holders and to comply with Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) regulations. Digital document processing and automated workflow solutions further accelerate the onboarding process. Rakbank now signs up new accountholders in around eight minutes, compared to five days in the past. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
WeLab Boost by Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco)
Attijariwafa Bank is encouraging its employees to identify opportunities to use emerging technologies to improve the bank’s operations. Its WeLab Boost scheme draws on volunteers to work together to explore how new technologies might address requirements identified by the bank. More than a hundred employees have participated in the scheme. They produced 15 proposals that have been forwarded for proof of concept. Three of them are set to be implemented by the bank. (Read the full case study)

The "New & Transformed Players" category acknowledges financial institutions, start-ups, and tech firms within the banking and insurance industries for their creation and/or application of innovative technology and partnerships that enhance customer experience and develop new revenue sources for the industry.

Gold winner
Wio Bank (United Arab Emirates)
Newly launched Wio Bank has already made good on its pledge to disrupt the banking industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The digital bank has signed up more than 30,000 small businesses as customers since its launch in September 2022. Wio Bank plans to soon tackle other sectors of the UAE banking industry. Its core strengths are feature-rich digital banking apps, embedded finance solutions and banking-as-a-service (BaaS) capabilities. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
Liv Digital Bank by Emirates NBD (United Arab Emirates)
Emirates NBD has refocused its Liv digital bank and tailored its products and services to meet the financial needs of young people. It has developed five innovative offerings, including gamified bank accounts, flexible credit card facilities and goal-focused savings options, designed to appeal to “Generation Now.” Liv has more than 400,000 customers and since shifting its focus 18 months ago has almost doubled its emerging-affluent accountholders. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
NEOBiz Connect API by Mashreq (United Arab Emirates)
Mashreq and its partner, Virtuzone, have developed an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows free zones, trade license authorities and consulting firms to quickly apply for bank accounts on behalf of their clients. Mashreq expects the NEOBiz Connect API to encourage the growth of small businesses in the United Arab Emirates by making it easier for those firms to access financial services. (Read the full case study)

The "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)" category applauds financial institutions for their innovations that demonstrate how they have seamlessly embedded sustainability and ESG principles into their value chains.

Gold winner
Fintech Catalyst by Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco)
Attijariwafa Bank has linked up with local investment fund Positive Invest and the Moroccan hub of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development (CEED) to create a start-up ecosystem for fledgling fintech firms. The ecosystem provides fintechs in Morocco and elsewhere in Africa with business and technical support as well as funding and networking opportunities. To date, 24 projects have demonstrated proof of concept and seven have advanced to become commercial solutions. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
EDB Business Lab by Emirates Development Bank (United Arab Emirates)
Emirates Development Bank (EDB) has built an online business lab that provides small companies and enterprising entrepreneurs with free training and education to help them grow their businesses. The business lab also offers its members support and mentorship from experienced business leaders as well as access to funding. In 2022, it helped nearly 80 small firms and entrepreneurs. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Bankee Program by NBK (Kuwait)
The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched a countrywide programme that teaches children in elementary schools financial skills, knowledge and values. Introduced in 11 schools this year, the Bankee programme simulates real economies in the classroom and prompts students to make decisions about earning, spending and saving money. NBK is enhancing the programme with support from local teachers, training firm Creative Confidence, the Ministry of Education and the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority. It plans to introduce it to 30 schools next year. (Read the full case study)

The "Distribution" category celebrates financial institutions that have pioneered innovative practices, reimagining distribution in response to changing customer expectations, encompassing new delivery channels, branch transformation, multi-channel integration, mobile banking, and scalable end-to-end value propositions leveraging partnerships, platforms, and the Internet of Things.

Gold winner
Self-Service Branches by NBK (Kuwait)
The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has extended its reach by rolling out several self-service branches across the country. The automated branches enable NBK to deliver banking solutions to under-served regions. They also encourage customers in those areas to migrate to digital offerings. NBK estimates that the roll-out has increased sales by close to 5%. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
Tablet X App by Emirates NBD (United Arab Emirates)
Retail bank Emirates NBD has launched a tablet-based onboarding app that dramatically cuts the time it takes to sign up new customers. The Tablet X app enables the bank’s sales executives and agents to perform a security and credit check and then open an account within three minutes. This process, when performed in a branch, used to take three to five days. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
KIB Aqari Real Estate Platform by Kuwait International Bank (Kuwait)
Kuwait International Bank (KIB) has developed an extensive digital platform that helps its customers better oversee their real estate portfolios. The KIB Aqari platform enables users to manage, sell and rent real estate remotely. It features automated rent collection, late payment tracking and property appraisal requests and verifications. KIB plans to add features such as automated property valuations and rental assessments. (Read the full case study)

The "SME Bank of the Year" award recognizes the organization that stands out by showcasing innovation and digital solutions precisely tailored to meet the unique needs of SMEs, which may include the introduction of new financial products, digital banking services, or a strong commitment to exceptional customer support. This special category is a spin-off from the SME Banking Awards 2023 by the Qorus SME Banking community.

Gold winner
Nedbank (South Africa)
Nedbank is strengthening its presence in the South African SME sector by helping small businesses thrive in a challenging economy. It has grown its share of the SME market from 14% to 24% in the past 10 years by investing in skilled staff, advanced technologies and its Simply Biz digital training and support community. Recent advances include the launch of pre-approved overdraft facilities for small businesses, the upgrade of its Avo ecommerce app and the introduction of dedicated funding for investments in renewable energy. (Read the full presentation)

Silver winner
Emirates NBD (United Arab Emirates)
Emirates NBD is working to deliver a comprehensive range of banking services to SMEs trading in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It has rapidly increased its share of the local SME market and holds around 30% of small business deposits in the UAE. Emirates NBD plans to further expand its SME business in the region by enhancing its customer support, extending its digital onboarding capabilities, broadening its online banking and improving its mobile channels. (Read the full presentation)

Bronze winner
National Bank of Kuwait (Kuwait)
The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is playing a key role in the development of the country’s SMEs. Around 95% of businesses in Kuwait are SMEs and NBK provides banking services to more than 60% of those firms. During the past five years, it has grown its share of the SME market at an annual rate of 10%. It now supports more than 20,000 SME customers. NBK plans to further expand its SME business by launching new banking products, enhancing customer support through branch and digital channels and helping small firms manage their payments, bookkeeping and human resources. (Read the full presentation)

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