Financial services companies around the world are showing remarkable agility, innovating to meet the fast-changing needs of their customers.

The third Qorus Reinvention Awards celebrated the top innovators in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), highlighting the breakthrough products, services, and creative teams that are setting industry benchmarks. Winners came from a wide range of countries and diverse markets, proving that innovation knows no boundaries.

The awards were presented at a live ceremony in Dubai on 19 November.

This category highlights banks that are leading breakthrough innovation and digitization in corporate banking, covering channels such as cash management, payments, treasury, trade finance, and more. It celebrates institutions delivering tailored, efficient digital solutions that empower large corporates, mid-sized businesses, and SMEs to thrive in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

Gold winner
Client Intelligence Hub by Standard Bank (South Africa)
Standard Bank has strengthened its business banking relationships by developing an intelligent digital platform that uses data analytics, behavioral science, and AI to personalize client engagements. The Client Intelligence Hub, which provides relationship managers with specific client recommendations drawn from internal and external data sources, supported 160,000 businesses last year and helped the bank increase new account revenue and reduce client attrition rates. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
Wio Business by Wio Bank (United Arab Emirates)
Wio Bank has increased its support of SMEs by building a digital banking platform that provides them with fast onboarding, multi-user access, virtual cards, and access to a variety of online business applications. The Wio Business platform, which was upgraded with more than 50 product enhancements last year, has onboarded more than 90,000 SMEs. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Agri-Banking by Bange Bank Cameroun (Cameroon)
Bange Bank Cameroun has launched a financial support program to boost the competitiveness, productivity, and sustainability of the country’s agriculture. The Agri-Banking program, which provides farmers, cooperatives, and agribusinesses with tailored financing, technical advice, and personalized support, aims to better align the products and services of agricultural producers and help farmers scale their businesses. (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
Sharia-compliant Bitcoin Investing by Ruya (United Arab Emirates)
Fintech ruya has expanded its Sharia-compliant financial services by becoming the first Islamic bank to offer customers the ability to buy and sell bitcoin and other virtual assets on a mobile banking app. The bank teamed up with infrastructure provider Fuze to deliver the service and positions the bitcoin facility alongside its savings accounts as a vehicle to build long-term wealth. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
NBP Aitemaad Advance Salary by National Bank of Pakistan (Pakistan)
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has bolstered its personal finance offerings by providing a Sharia-compliant salary-advance facility that allows customers to address urgent liquidity needs. The NBP Aitemaad Advance Salary facility, available to salaried NBP clients, uses tawarruq financing and an automated processing platform to provide short-term finance that complies with Islamic banking principles. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Digibank Mobile App by Faysal Bank (Pakistan)
Faysal Bank has boosted its retail digital banking services by introducing a mobile app that offers convenient biometric onboarding and secure real-time payments. The Digibank app, which is linked to Google Pay, has helped the bank increase its monthly transaction volumes by 75%, push up monthly active users from 55% to 65%, and nearly double daily registrations. (Read the full case study)

This category celebrates initiatives that use digital technologies to engage clients and create a truly customer-centric approach. It recognizes innovations that boost loyalty, satisfaction, and advocacy, including improvements in marketing, sales, distribution, and customer channel management—both digital and physical. 

Gold winner
AI and Digital Experience Platform by Banque Misr (Egypt)
Banque Misr has enhanced the customer experience it provides clients by building an AI-powered digital platform that delivers hyper-personalized services and seamless operations across mobile, web, and branch channels. The platform supports 24/7 chatbots and virtual assistants, an analytics engine that uses client data to tailor product recommendations, automated back-office loan origination, credit assessment and compliance processes, and AI-guided fraud detection and cybersecurity systems. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
IntelliEngage by Standard Bank (South Africa)
Standard Bank has boosted the customer experience it offers clients by developing an engagement engine that uses advanced analytics, machine learning, AI, and behavioral science to facilitate hyper-personalized financial conversations across multiple channels. The IntelliEngage engine, which intelligently sequences engagements based on client needs, enabled the bank last year to conduct six million personalized conversations with 10 million clients across 12 countries in Africa, addressing more than 100 use cases, at a 40% conversion rate. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Silent Security Response by Discovery Bank (South Africa)
Discovery Bank has strengthened the security it provides clients by enabling users of its mobile app to hide details of sensitive accounts and trigger an alert if transacting under duress. The Digital Account Vault gives app users access to selected accounts only once they have entered a security code, while a Panic Code allows users to discreetly alert crime-response services and tighten fraud controls on their accounts. (Read the full case study)

This category celebrates insurers that deliver smarter, faster, and more efficient operations. It recognizes initiatives that streamline processes to reduce costs and drive growth — and projects that empower people, elevate skills, and build a more agile organization. Where operational performance meets human potential. 

Gold award
Champions by SAB (Saudi Arabia)
SAB has launched an innovation program that equips staff to identify problems, build solutions, and put them into production. Led by a team of 28 employees from across the bank, the Champions by SAB program has delivered more than 2,000 hours of training, produced five projects, and established a long-term innovation pipeline. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
Microservices Platform by Rakbank (United Arab Emirates)
Rakbank has modernized its core banking systems with no disruption to customer services by using a microservices platform built on Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure to ship features without downtime. The microservices platform enabled the bank’s agile squads to ship features 60% faster while delivering 99.99% uptime, reducing recovery times by 50%, and curbing infrastructure costs by 30%. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Core Banking Transformation by Arab National Bank (Saudi Arabia)
Arab National Bank transformed its core banking systems, replacing legacy solutions with the Finacle 11x suite of applications, in 21 months with little disruption to customer services. The new banking systems, which use AI, machine learning, and blockchain technologies, support the organization’s digital transformation and have improved processing efficiency, increased functionality, strengthened compliance, and enhanced customer experience. (Read the full case study)

This category recognizes outstanding innovation in the insurance sector, highlighting companies that are redefining the industry, leveraging technology, and delivering exceptional value to clients.

Gold winner
Tawuniya Super App by Tawuniya (Saudi Arabia)
Insurance provider Tawuniya has launched a mobile app that provides customers with access to motor, life, health, and property cover on a single integrated platform with AI-guided claims processing and real-time customer support. The Super App, which offers seamless connections to third-party services such as telemedicine and emergency assistance, has boosted Tawuniya’s sales and revenues across the MENA region and increased customer penetration from 49% to 97%. (Read the full case study)

Silver winner
Moneyversity Plus by Old Mutual (South Africa)
Old Mutual has launched a digital hub that combines interactive learning with gamification to teach financial skills such as budgeting, investing, and debt management, and promote entrepreneurship. The Moneyversity Plus hub, which incentivizes users by offering them reward points that can be exchanged at a variety of retailers, attracted more than 200,000 users in the eight months after its launch last year, over 10% of them children, and registered 35 million views. (Read the full case study)

Bronze winner
Dollar DiveR$ifier by Discovery (South Africa)
Discovery has improved the service it gives clients by equipping its advisors with a currency conversion tool that generates simultaneous rand and dollar life insurance quotes in a single application. The Dollar DiveR$ifier, developed in response to growing customer demand for dollar-denominated risk protection to manage costs tied to imported medicines, medical devices, and specialized treatments, allows advisors to mitigate client currency risks without switching between applications. (Read the full case study)

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

Gold winner
Coffee Direct Settlement System by Co-operative Bank of Kenya
Co-operative Bank of Kenya has developed a digital platform that automates trading and settlement among participants across the country’s coffee industry. The Coffee Direct Settlement System connects around 600 cooperatives that support close to a million smallholder farmers with millers, brokers, and buyers on a single platform that tracks shipments, monitors product traceability, and executes fast payments. (Read the full case study)