Seven leading financial institutions honored at the Qorus Reinvention Awards – Middle East 2026
Qorus, the leading international network for financial institutions, announced the winners of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – Middle East during an in-person ceremony in Dubai.
Qorus, the leading international network for financial institutions, announced the winners of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – Middle East during an in-person ceremony in Dubai.
Applicants to Qorus’s long-running Banking Innovation Awards and Innovation in Insurance Awards automatically qualify for acknowledgment in this prestigious regional award program that shines the spotlight on the best ideas and practices transforming the financial services industry in the Middle East. This year programs collectively attracted nearly 1,000 entries by leading banks and insurers across the globe.
“This year’s award winners demonstrate the bold thinking, creativity, and expertise driving financial services transformation across the Middle East. At Qorus, we are proud to bring these inspiring projects to the spotlight, connecting forward-thinking institutions and sharing their ideas with our global community. By giving innovation the visibility it deserves, we help turn inspiration into action — and bold ideas into the standards that shape the future of financial services,” says John Berry, CEO of Qorus.
The winners of the Qorus Reinvention Awards Middle East 2026 are:
• Emirates NBD (United Arab Emirates) has been named Middle East Transformative Innovator of the Year 2026 for its transformation into an AI-driven bank that uses advanced analytics, GenAI, and automation to deliver faster, more efficient, and customer-centric banking services. The bank has introduced more than 40 GenAI use cases, built a cloud-native technology platform, established over 30 Agile squads, and adopted a DevOps operating model to accelerate technology development and delivery. It has automated 93% of services and 98% of transactions, with 94% of customer onboarding now conducted digitally. The transformation has reduced processing times by more than 30%, increased its Net Promoter Score by eight points, and cut customer complaints by 31%.
• Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (United Arab Emirates) won the AI Innovation of the Year Award for its fully integrated, AI-powered digital banking ecosystem, delivering seamless onboarding and Shariah-compliant innovation across payments, wealth management, and customer service.
• Bank Muscat (Oman) received the Operational Excellence Innovation award for its state-of-the-art IT Command Center enabling real-time monitoring, proactive issue resolution, and uninterrupted service delivery.
• e& money (United Arab Emirates) won the Best Customer Experience Award for its Self-KYC solution, enabling five-minute wallet registration and verification via smartphone.
• First Abu Dhabi Bank (United Arab Emirates) received the Best Product & Service Award for Payit Universal Account, expanding financial inclusion by giving underserved and underbanked customers access to regulated banking and financial services with no fees or minimum balance requirements.
• Citibank (United Arab Emirates) won the Cybersecurity Innovation Award for its emergency button, enabling the bank’s customers to instantly freeze their accounts and trigger a fraud alert.
• Al Rajhi Takaful (Saudi Arabia) received the Best Insurance Innovation Award for Mulhim, an AI-powered training character designed to deliver engaging, scalable learning experiences for its employees.
Peer recognition grounded in excellence
Winners were selected through a rigorous, independent process combining an assessment by an international jury of senior banking executives with voting by the Qorus community. Evaluation criteria included originality, impact, universality, and the quality of the submission.
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