Qorus announced the winners of the second edition of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – Europe during an in-person ceremony in Vienna on 14 May 2025.
These regional awards shine the spotlight on the best ideas and practices transforming the financial services industry in Europe. They are a spin-off of Qorus’ long-running Banking Innovation Awards and Innovation in Insurance Awards, which collectively attracted more than 600 entries in their 2024 editions. Applicants to both these programs can qualify for acknowledgment on a regional stage too.
"Europe is undoubtedly a continent of innovation, particularly in financial services. The projects recognized in this latest edition of the regional awards are a clear testament to that. Every effort is being made to leverage the latest technologies and business models to achieve operational excellence and deliver an optimal, innovative customer experience," remarks John Berry, CEO of Qorus.
The winners of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – Europe 2025 are:
• European Innovator of the Year
CaixaBank (Spain) won the 2025 European Innovator of the Year award for its success in embedding innovation across its organization to drive revenue growth, streamline operations and enhance customer service. CaixaBank has placed innovation at the core of its strategic vision, as shown by its ongoing investment in new technology, its close attention to customers and its partnerships with key technology providers. The bank invested €1.26 billion in technology to enhance its financial services, deployed AI and analytics to personalize customer engagement and bolstered its IT infrastructure with blockchain, quantum computing and cloud solutions. CaixaBank currently supports more than 11.5 million active digital customers.
Fidelidade (Portugal) was this year’s runner-up, followed by Yapi Kredi (Turkey).
• Customer Experience
KBC (Belgium) earned the Customer Experience award for its ‘Your Year in KBC Mobile’ project. By transforming transaction data into a personalized, engaging experience, the bank has strengthened customer trust and loyalty. Delivered through the KBC mobile app, the year-end summary uses a storytelling format to highlight clients’ financial behaviors and key milestones, while also introducing them to additional features available within the app.
Bank of Ireland (Ireland) was the runner-up, for the New Ireland Assurance Customer & Broker Portal, followed by Millennium bcp (Portugal) and its Digital E2E Experience mortgage hub.
• Distribution
Allied Irish Banks (Ireland) secured the Distribution award for its new AIB Life insurance subsidiary. Allied Irish Banks has created a powerful distribution vehicle for its life insurance offerings by forming a dedicated insurance subsidiary in partnership with Canadian financial services conglomerate Great-West Lifeco. AIB Life uses its extensive technology infrastructure to market a wide range of life insurance products through physical and digital distribution channels.
Bank Pekao (Poland) earned second place with its Cloud Driven Omnibank CRM system, while PTSB (Ireland) won third for its successful transformation project.
Qorus and Infosys Finacle launch the 2025 edition of the banking innovation awards
• ESG
Česká spořitelna (Czech Republic) received the ESG award for developing a digital application that helps SMEs improve their sustainability. The application, which is freely available, comprises an ESG compass that helps companies determine their ESG status, a CO² emissions calculator, an e-mobility tool that compares the carbon footprint and total cost of ownership of EVs with equivalent internal combustion engine cars, and a photovoltaic calculator that helps companies estimate the performance and benefits of solar energy systems. Česká spořitelna developed the application to help clients turn ESG into an opportunity to grow their businesses.
Tatra Banka (Slovakia) was placed second for its Green Transition Financing portfolio management tool, followed by Akbank (Turkey) and its Waste Log recycling venture.
• New Ways of Working
Generali (Italy) earned the New Ways of Working award for its innovative Executive Master program that equips insurance agents with entrepreneurial business skills. The postgraduate-level program combines digital and classroom environments to deliver 180 hours of instruction that helps agents run their businesses better. Subjects include marketing, finance, sales, leadership, change management and business planning. Generali developed the Executive Master program in collaboration with leading Italian business schools, to attract new agents and foster loyalty among its current representatives.
Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) took second place with its GenAI-powered Smart Knowledge Base and MBH Bank (Hungary) was third with its AI Readiness Boost employee training program.
• Operational Excellence
Odeabank (Turkey) received the Operational Excellence award for its Commercial Boost Project, which improved the bank’s efficiency by consolidating commercial banking tools used by relationship managers into a unified digital hub. The hub provides quick and accurate customer data as well as sales information, such as the best prices for loans, client creditworthiness, performance tracking, and the budget status of key products. The Commercial Boost Project also enhanced the bank’s customer service by reducing turnaround times for loan applications and raised employee satisfaction by enabling relationship managers to use their time more effectively.
Yapi Kredi (Turkey) was the runner-up, with its PredictiBank automated performance-target prediction tool, followed by Nickel (France) and its in-app home insurance offering.
"These awards have highlighted just how much the financial services sector is evolving. I believe the audience gained a lot of valuable insights from the ceremony,” says John Berry, Qorus CEO. “Now, I’m looking ahead to the Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2025. For this upcoming global edition, we’re hoping to see a wide range of innovative projects – especially those tapping into the vast potential of AI."
With the Innovation Radar, Qorus members gain access to in-depth presentations of all winning projects, both in text and video. Submit your innovative projects for the next edition of our global and regional awards.
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