Wells Fargo Estate Care Center

In 2018, Wells Fargo created its Estate Care Center to help families manage estate settlements. But the bank encountered technical difficulties as its various product divisions, including deposit accounts and investment funds, operated on separate computer systems. To address this, Wells Fargo partnered with Pegasystems, a business-process management firm based near Boston. Pegasystems’ Pega technology connected the Estate Care Center with the bank’s other computer systems.

Wells Fargo utilizes Pega for case management, enabling the bank to monitor customer interactions across different products, which relieves bereaved families from having to repeatedly provide information. Pega also allows the bank to be more proactive at contacting customers to promote estate planning and beneficiary updates.

Wells Fargo is now exploring the potential of AI to serve as a knowledge resource for agents, enhancing their ability to provide empathetic estate care services rather than replacing human interaction.

Most Innovative Bank in Africa | NEDBANK MOZAMBIQUE

In an effort to modernize operations, Nedbank Mozambique has implemented innovative digital solutions to strengthen its services and processes. Customers can use various functions across digital channels to easily transfer funds to mobile wallets or cash from prepaid cards to Nedbank accounts. NedChat is an organizational chatbot that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide employees with real-time access to knowledge about bank products, services, standards, and polices, to help streamline workflows and boost productivity.

The bank has also taken a proactive approach to risk management by implementing NedCreditAnalysis, a tool that uses Gen AI to extract and analyze relevant information from financial documents for credit decisions in various products. To strengthen the bank’s cybersecurity, it implemented a mechanism that binds each of a customer’s accounts to a specific device through a unique identifier. This has helped to prevent unauthorized access to customer accounts as well as to prevent identity theft. 

Most Innovative Financial Technology Company in Africa | MNT – HALAN

MNT-Halan has been transforming access to financial services for African consumers and businesses. With over 2.4 million active users quarterly, this digital platform serves segments often overlooked by traditional financial institutions. The Halan app started as a ride-hailing service and was transformed into a lending platform that uses automation to underwrite and originate loans tailored to customers. Neuron is a proprietary API first core banking software that powers the Halan product ecosystem. This API enables the company to seamlessly and securely connect with digital banking services that support streamlined processes and optimize the user experience.

Through Neuron, users, merchants, loan agents, and MNT-Halan branches are connected across an easy-to-use network to transact with millions of customers in multiple currencies. This technology supports over 11 million customers, 54% of whom are women; and it has helped MNT-Halan drive financial inclusion in Egypt by providing costeffective solutions to unbanked customers.

Iogate | ABSA

Supporting its effort to digitize the paper-intensive trade finance business, Absa’s Iogate API allows the bank to connect to third-party fintechs while protecting data easily and seamlessly. The solution is helping Absa pivot to new technologies as the market evolves, without disrupting existing workflows. The API leverages cutting-edge orchestration to ensure a faster, more cost-efficient trade solution and equips customers and the bank with a future-proof infrastructure. By integrating with an assortment of fintechs, Iogate promotes personalization through a customized suite of products and services that help clients meet their unique goals.

SMART TPE| BANQUE SAHELO-SAHARIENNE POUR L’INVESTISSEMENT ET LE COMMERCE (BSIC SENEGAL)

BSIC Sénégal offers merchants an additional customer payment method through SMART TPE, a technology that facilitates contactless mobile payments via a bank card or digital wallet while using electronic payment terminals. The new payment system gives merchants more ways to accept customer payments and allows them to transfer the funds directly to their BSIC bank accounts, shortening the interval before they can access these funds. SMART TPE allows customers in turn to use their digital wallets to pay for goods and services from merchants, improving the customer experience.

First-Ever Sectoral Funds in the Egyptian Market | BELTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT

With limited options for sector investing on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), retail investors previously could not easily take advantage of sector performance that can change with economic conditions. Instead, they invested in individual companies or in funds targeting a broader index. To address the demand for more strategic investments opportunities, Beltone Asset Management developed four sector funds (Beltone Real Estate Fund, Beltone Financial Fund, Beltone Consumer Fund, and Beltone Industrial Fund) that reflect real-time sector trends. The firm has also forged alliances with fintechs to provide clients with broader access to its funds on various platforms.

Digital Account Opening | IIB WEST AFRICA

Opening a bank account in the Republic of Cabo Verde is a time-consuming, complex operation that requires customers to fill out forms and complete multiple steps in person at a bank branch. iibCV launched a digital platform that allows customers to open accounts online. By leveraging technologies that authenticate and integrate with automatic verification systems, the platform simplifies the process, saving time for both customers and the bank. The new platform is compliant with the bank’s standards as well as associated regulations and legislation.

La Cagnotte by SoGe | SOCIETE GENERALE MAROC

To help Moroccans manage savings simply and securely, Societe Generale Maroc introduced SoGé cagnotte, a budget management solution integrated into its digital banking app, SoGé. The app boasts an enhanced customer experience offering an assortment of tools to promote financial inclusion and help boost Moroccans’ purchasing power. SoGé cagnotte digitizes the concept of the piggy bank, enabling customers to work toward their financial goals by creating up to five savings goals, each personalized by name, savings amount, and date.

Robin Hood Unclaimed Benefits Solution, Powered by Standard Bank | STANDARD BANK

In South Africa, over R90 billion (about $4.95 billion) of unclaimed assets are due to over 8 million residents, with 6% of assets paid annually as more are added. Finding the beneficiaries is the problem. Robin Hood, a fintech, has developed an innovative solution using AI to match beneficiaries with their unclaimed assets. Standard Bank partnered with Robin Hood and supports the AI solution through its OneHub platform. Starting with a dividend book and pension book worth a combined R1 billion, more than R10 million thus far have been returned to over 6,000 beneficiaries. 

Most Innovative Bank in Asia-Pacific| TAIPEI FUBON BANK

In 2024, the Taiwan bank introduced IntelliChat, a chatbot enabled by Gen AI, designed to handle customer-service queries. It has improved the retail-user experience at the bank by reducing previously long wait times for account information. Waiting to speak with a specialist or chatbot took an average of 27 seconds before implementation, compared with 20 seconds after implementation. At the same time, call volume increased from 176 calls per day to 208 calls per day.

AI is also being used to sharpen the bank’s marketing efforts. LeikaAI, an in-house solution that optimizes marketing-audience selection, has replaced manual marketing processes based on structured query language. It can generate precise customer segments in 20 minutes that would have required three or four days to complete earlier.

Meanwhile, the bank introduced a new version of its mobile banking app that integrates banking, securities, property insurance, and life insurance services. Using predictive modeling, the app is also able to personalize recommendations for customers.

Most Innovative Financial Technology Company in Asia-Pacific | KASIKORN BUSINESS-TECHNOLOGY GROUP

A depository institution’s core banking system is its backbone—the back-end information-technology system that processes daily banking transactions and updates financial accounts and records.

Thailand’s Kasikornbank, also known as KBank, set before itself a daunting task: Create an entirely new core banking system without impacting the continued working of the incumbent system. More than 2,000 applications and interfaces would be affected during the process.

The new system was developed by KBank’s technology arm, KBTG, and went live in October 2024 after 22 months of work involving 1,000 employees. It has increased KBank’s transaction capacity by 50% and now supports up to 60 million customer accounts.

Mobile banking transactions at KBank have surged in recent years, necessitating the upgrade. K PLUS, one of the bank’s mobile apps, already has 23 million users and accounts for 30% of all financial transactions in Thailand.

Intelligent Risk Prevention Solution Based on Collateral Management| CHINA CENTRAL DEPOSITORY & CLEARING

Implemented last year, CCDC’s risk prevention solution uses high-tech algorithms to automate and optimize collateral management within China’s bond market, the world’s second largest. It does so by applying robotic process automation and optical character recognition technologies to previously manual processes.

The risk prevention tool has improved operational efficiency by approximately 50%, according to CCDC, while reducing human error risks and improving resource allocation. CCDC clients can now use up to 20.9% of their holding assets as collateral, a high percentage for any platform.

AI-Powered Green Fintech for Sustainable Financing Business| CTBC BANK

Launched last November, this Scope 3 emission management solution from Taiwan’s CTBC Bank addresses the challenges facing financial institutions seeking to manage (Scope 3) greenhouse gas emissions. Partnering with Evercomm, a provider of digital sustainability solutions, the platform enables banks to measure the carbon impact of their financing decisions and track their sustainability targets.

Based on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s AI in Green Fintech initiative, the platform uses publicly available ESG information and high-tech robotic process automation tools to extract the necessary emissions data.

Customer Service Officer (CSO) Assistant| DBS

DBS, a leader in innovation, uses AI to free its customer service officers from some of their most operationally taxing chores. The automated CSO Assistant transcribes and summarizes live customer calls and includes an email triaging tool that has already prioritized more than 48,000 offline messages.

Launched last August, CSO Assistant has improved the effectiveness of some 1,000 CSOs across Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and India, according to DBS, reducing the average time required to handle a single call by at least 5% while capturing conversations with customers more accurately.

Transforming Payment Process with Tokenization| OCBC

OCBC partnered with the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA) last November to implement a blockchainbased solution for disbursing advance payments to LTA’s contractors. These can amount to millions of dollars and are critical to defraying contractors’ heavy upfront capital outlays.

Payments by LTA are now disbursed automatically almost immediately, once the blockchain’s smart contracts have verified that agreed-upon conditions have been met. Payments are also more transparent, secure, and traceable, for payer and payee alike. To date, over $22 million has been disbursed to LTA’s main and sub-contractors. 

Most Innovative Bank in Central and Eastern Europe| AKTIF INVESTMENT BANK

Aktif Investment Bank, Turkey’s largest privately owned inves tment bank, has applied AI to boost internal bank processes. In early 2025, the bank launched an AI-driven digital interview system that integrates realtime lip synchronization and natural conversation using ChatGPT. Lip synchronization makes the AI interviewer appear more lifelike and engaging.

The new platform reduces the high cost of traditional interviews by automating the screening process and minimizing the need for human intervention in the early stages of the recruitment process. It’s multilingual, too, allowing candidates to interview in their native language.

The bank has also implemented AI to detect fatigue among its call-center employees. Undetected worker burnout is a problem that plagues many call centers; and this new system utilizes deep learning for real-time facial-movement analysis—assessing microexpressions, smile frequency, and facial tension in real time. Managers can then take fast corrective actions.

Most Innovative Financial Technology Company in Central and Eastern Europe| INPOST PAY

Poland’s InPost Pay has developed an online app that streamlines customers’ online shopping experience by combining payments and deliveries on a single unified platform. Once customers register with InPost Pay, they can shop at multiple online stores without logging in at each store. They don’t have to select a payment option and a means of delivery each time either, because those preferences are saved within the system. Customers can edit their shopping cart purchases at their leisure too.

Studies have shown that 60% to 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned by consumers—a pain point for merchants and consumers.

InPost Pay claims to have lowered that rate substantially. InPost Pay acquired 3 million users in the first six months after the solution’s 2024 launch. The company expects to expand the service beyond Poland soon. 

Your Everyday Financial Companion Akbank Mobil: For You| AKBANK

In January, Turkey’s Akbank launched a revamped version of its mobile banking app with a new multi-dimensional ecosystem that integrates lifestyle elements, personalized insights, and partner-based capabilities. Utilizing AI, the app provides leads and insights in a range of areas including travel planning and household budgeting. Since the revamp, the app has had 4.8 million unique visitors, 214,700 of whom have become mobile active for the first time. Akbank reports that its gross profits have ballooned since the launch.

CSOB Mortgage with Digital Signature and Mortgage Zone| CSOB

CSOB has boosted its mortgage activity by applying an emerging technology to a local problem. Beginning in March, advanced electronic signature technology enables customers to sign mortgage and collateral agreements, completing a range of mortgage processes, without entering a bank branch.

The new tool saves significant time for mortgage applicants, too, because they no longer must deal separately with the Czech Republic’s land registry office. Everything can be done by mobile phone or on a home computer. More than one-third of CSOB’s mortgage activity is now completed using a qualified electronic signature.

Next-Generation Fraud Detection and Prevention System| KAPITAL BANK

Kapital Bank last year became Azerbaijan’s first financial institution to integrate advanced real-time monitoring and multi-layered cyber defense mechanisms for fraud prevention.

The new system applies 54 distinct prevention controls aligned with global standards for information security management systems. A 24/7 monitoring mechanism blocks attempted fraudulent actions before they can occur, shielding Kapital Bank’s 5 million-plus customers. Last year, the system thwarted 198,734 fraudulent transactions, double the previous year’s total, the bank reported.

Bancassurance| MAIB

MAIB last year became the Republic of Moldova’s first bank to fully integrate digital insurance with its bank offerings. Retail bank customers can now purchase credit protection insurance to cover loan installment payments in case of illness or job loss.

The entire process, from loan agreement to compensation, can be handled directly on the maibank mobile app, including vehicle and travel insurance coverage. MAIB worked with Donaris Vienna Insurance Group to make these sometimescomplex insurance products more understandable and accessible for bank customers.

RBI’s New Cash Management Digital Ecosystem| RBI

RBI has been a regional leader in adopting faster, more secure processes for electronic bank account management. Its new cash management system provides real-time updates and streamlined data reconciliation as first steps enroute to fully digitized management of all bank accounts.

RBI has also accelerated onboarding for its large international customers, including the New Yorker fashion chain, by bundling centralized treasury capabilities, plug-and-play API integration in SAP software solutions, and convenient account management.

Enhancing Slovak Call Center Customer Service with Fine-Tuned Whisper Model| TATRA BANKA

Tatra banka, a serial innovator, has developed a new customized speech-to-text model for transcribing call-center recordings. Developed by the Slovakia-based bank’s advanced analytics department, the service leverages generative AI and was fine-tuned on the bank’s own internal speech data.

Tatra banka’s aim was to extract information, dates, and account amounts. The system automatically records who called, the date, and reason for the call, as well as the size of the caller’s bank account(s). The model also analyzes text transcriptions to gain insights into customer concerns using Whisper, an open-source automatic speech recognition system the bank customized for its own speech-to-text needs.

Most Innovative Bank in Latin America| BANCO BRADESCO

Banco Bradesco has incorporated innovative Gen AI applications into its operations to modernize services and processes. By using AI to extract and quantify information from investment reports, the bank can tailor analyses to meet the needs of institutional clients.

The Bridge platform integrates services to optimize banking applications from different business areas, eliminating the need for subject-matter expertise. The IdeIA solution reads customer-service emails and automates previously manual processes to respond quicker to customers. By simplifying processes, the bank is able to improve the user experience for its customers. Horizon uses customer data to generate commercial insights to better understand customer needs and behaviors; thus, it can simplify decisionmaking. Athena solves the problem of manually documenting calls and chats by using AI to transcribe and compile these. These are only a few of the innovations within the bank that have improved efficiency and saved time. 

Best-in-Class Payroll Onboarding Process| BANAMEX

To eliminate manual tasks, data errors, and cumbersome processes, Banamex introduced Remote Account Opening Payroll, which connects employees with their employers through a fully digital self-service onboarding process. Employers can onboard employees for payment processes through the e-banking portal, which saves time by digitizing the interaction between employees and their employer’s new human resources department. Employees no longer need to provide personal information and bank account numbers to their employers by email or paper. Instead, they can open a Banamex account that has features similar to a checking account and securely validate their identity using biometrics.

Analysis of Accounting Statements| BANCO CENTRAL DO BRASIL

Every year, the financial institutions supervised by Brazil’s central bank issue accounting reports that are used to verify their compliance with regulations. These reports are not standardized and extracting the relevant information can take weeks and many employee hours. The central bank’s new internal tool uses a large language model and AI to simultaneously analyze some 1,800 accounting statements in approximately 20 minutes to determine whether the supervised entities are in compliance. The tool is calibrated to eliminate bias so that the extracted information yields more accurate results.

Cuscatlan New App| BANCO CUSCATLAN

Customers using the Cuscatlan New App can customize their home screens to view particular products and services. Thanks to enhanced security and privacy settings, they can also specify which accounts and balances they want displayed on their home screen and easily access key functions like cardless cash withdrawal with only a few clicks, making the new app more intuitive than competitors’. It also addresses customers’ pain points and cumbersome processes to streamline how they can access products and services through a more intuitive, personalized banking experience, the banks says.

SAM (Servicio de Atencion Movil)| BANCO DEL PAIS (BANPAIS)

To promote financial inclusion in Honduras, Banco del País introduced SAM, an AI-powered chatbot providing a more personalized and interactive means for clients to self-service their routine banking needs. This virtual assistant is a customer’s first point of contact and addresses questions over social media. Customers can access SAM 24/7 from WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger along with other in-country social platforms to perform such operations as transaction inquiries, credit card balance checks and activation, and safety blocks and answer more than 80 frequently asked questions.

ARI – Generative AI to Support Micro and Small Businesses| BANCO DO BRASIL

Aiming to better understand the needs of entrepreneurs and the opportunities they seek, Banco do Brasil launched ARI, an AI-driven alternative to conventional banking consultancy models. The technology uses a generative AI conversation assistant in Microsoft Teams, analyzing raw financial data to produce personalized insights for Brazilian micro and small businesses. ARI simplifies complex financial processes for entrepreneurs, saving them time and resources, and generates insights into customer behavior and performance and growth opportunities, enabling entrepreneurs to make better informed strategic decisions.

Rural Banking| BANCOLOMBIA

Bancolombia is addressing financial inclusion in rural communities with a territory-based intervention model rather than a product-centric approach. Using localized financial solutions, technology-enabled access, a financial literacy program, a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem, and networks that empower women, the bank has simplified financial processes and improved accessibility to foster sustainable economic development. Multiple areas of the bank are collaborating to solve the problem of financial inclusion, including a Rural Innovation Lab that identifies systemic challenges, experiments with new financial solutions, and codesigns interventions with local communities. The bank is also working with the Bancolombia Foundation to incubate and scale social impact projects.

Automation| BANCO W

App Abogados W leverages low-code and no-code technology to improve debt collection for the customer, resulting in a 94% increase in operational efficiency for Colombia’s Banco W. Developed by the bank’s WLab in partnership with Universidad Icesi, the app has reduced payment agreement processing time from 15 days to less than 24 hours; with improved customer experience, this has netted the bank a 400% increase in agreements. By reducing costs, the app has allowed Banco W to reallocate resources to other strategic tasks.

Improvements in the Negotiation of Early Credit Card Delinquencies in Collection Telephone Calls| BBVA

BBVA is transforming its debt collection process by applying insights from behavioral economics to collection calls for early credit card defaults. The change addresses customers’ emotional and cognitive barriers when dealing with debt and relies on customer responses to legal and financial incentives. The new approach helps the bank make interventions at an early stage of delinquency, helping prevent debt loads from becoming unmanageable. Advisors guide conversations with negotiation accelerator cards based on behavioral economics and tailored to the individual customer’s psychology. The result has been an increase in recovered balances and customers getting better control of their finances.

BTG AI Banker Agent| BTG PACTUAL

BTG AI Banker Agent gives individuals access to a private banker for their customer service, personal finance management, and investment advisory needs. Utilizing generative AI and deep learning models, this tool includes a daily banker that acts as a personal financial assistant; a foundational customer model that leverages transactional data, behavioral insight, and risk profiles; a research assistant that analyzes the customer’s assets, macroeconomics, and financial news; a customer service assistant; and an investment advisor that recommends optimized investment portfolios to help customers meet their goals. 

Most Innovative Bank in Middle East| ARAB BANK

Acabes, Arab Bank’s in-house development factory, enabled the bank to launch an updated version of its Reflect banking app in 2024. Reflect benefits from a host of new digital features, including multicurrency subaccounts for deposits, savings, and payments. Customers can also use Salary Transfer and instant transfer features with these currencies. Arabi Shopix, another Acabes product, is an e-commerce website creation service.

Acabes empowered Omnify, Arab Bank’s embedded finance and open-banking platform, toward its official launch, leading to Omnify signing and/or going live with third-party providers. Omnify has solidified its position as the region’s leading one-stop shop for embedded finance and open banking, preparing for the next era of banking as a service. Partnerships with key innovators like MoXey and Menaitech have improved the platform and let partners quickly develop custom financial solutions.

Most Innovative Financial Technology Company in Middle East | GEIDEA

The first payment provider in the Middle East and North Africa region to offer instant merchant onboarding, Geidea enables businesses to start accepting payments within minutes, thanks to substantial investments in automation, AI, and digital verification.

Geidea’s instant onboarding solution is particularly significant due to the rapid growth of digital-payment adoption across the region and the increasing number of microenterprises entering the formal economy. By facilitating quick onboarding for businesses of all sizes, Geidea supports scalable growth.

Furthermore, Geidea has set a new benchmark for innovation by becoming the first fintech in the region to develop and launch its own proprietary point-of-sale terminal. This establishes a new standard for flexibility, security, and technological integration in payments. By eliminating reliance on thirdparty hardware manufacturers, Geidea has disrupted traditional payment solutions and introduced a model that empowers businesses with unprecedented control and customization.

Cash Management Forecasting in ATMs Project | BANK MUSCAT

Oman’s Bank Muscat became the first Middle East bank to leverage AI and machine learning for predictive analytics in cash management, creating an efficient, non-manual ATM cash forecasting and replenishment process. By analyzing historical data for cash withdrawals and deposits along with external factors like seasonality and local events, the new forecasting system ensures optimal cash levels at ATMs, solving the problem of cash outs, which can be an annoyance for customers, and minimizing idle cash in the ATM, which is not ideal for the bank.

Musaed – Elevating Conversational Banking | BOUBYAN BANK

Boubyan Bank’s chatbot, Musaed—”helper” in Arabic—has undergone a series of recent enhancements. One such, Boubyan Playback, provides customers with a personalized “Year in Review” of their interactions with the bank, encouraging high customer engagement. Additionally, Boubyan has become the first bank in Kuwait to offer AI-powered recruitment assistance through Musaed’s Job Interview Service. During Boubyan’s internal job fair, Musaed streamlined the interviewing and hiring process by facilitating over 1,000 CV submissions and aiding HR in efficiently identifying potential candidates.

AI-powered Reconciliation Platform | BANQUE SAUDI FRANSI

In February, BSF partnered with Deben, a Saudi SaaS platform that automates cash flow management and generates instant reports for financial managers, to launch an innovative AI-powered reconciliation platform. As the first of its kind in both the kingdom and the region, the platform uses AI to deliver intelligent reconciliation, forecasting, anomaly detection, and real-time financial insights. Businesses can customize transaction categorization to meet their specific needs and automation streamlines processes for increased efficiency, cost savings, and an enhanced user experience.

FABeAccess Electronic Direct Debit (eDDS) API Suite| FIRST ABU DHABI BANK (FAB)

FAB’s eDDS API Suite is transforming the way businesses manage their receivables. The solution offers real-time, secure, automated collection processes while ensuring regulatory compliance. eDDS API Suite streamlines collections for billers and enhances convenience for payers through features including mandate registration, cancellation, collection requests, realtime status updates, and pre-collection reports. By eliminating manual processes and reducing administrative costs, businesses gain end-to-end visibility over their receivables. As the first API-driven electronic direct debit solution in the United Arab Emirates, eDDS API provides scalability, seamless integration with ERP systems, and a customer-centric approach.

PULSE Mobile App| MASHREQ

PULSE Mobile, a pioneering corporate banking app in the Middle East, provides relationship managers with a comprehensive, 360-degree view of client information. The innovative tool enables instant access to critical client data, transaction approvals, and call report submissions, directly from mobile devices. Additionally, the app’s news alerts feature ensures that relationship managers stay informed of key industry events, enabling them to proactively manage their portfolios and respond to market changes in real time.

QIC App| QATAR INSURANCE CO.

he QIC App is Qatar’s premier comprehensive mobile platform, delivering an array of services tailored for motorists and vehicle proprietors over a platform set up to streamline their daily routines and enhance road safety. By integrating both insurance and auxiliary non-insurance offerings, the QIC App addresses a critical issue: the disjointed and protracted procedures associated with overseeing diverse automotive requirements. Concurrently, QIC Reads operates as Qatar’s exclusive digital repository dedicated to insurance education, aiming to foster a robust culture of insurance awareness and simplify the understanding of everyday insurance needs in Qatar.

Fawran Corporate| QATAR ISLAMIC BANK

Qatar’s first Sharia-compliant, real-time corporate payment service, Fawran Corporate launched last November. The service allows instant transactions, including payroll, supplier payments, and intercompany transfers, improving liquidity and streamlining operations. Adherence to Sharia principles fosters trust and expands the service’s reach within the Islamic finance sector. Fawran Corporate marks a major milestone in Qatar’s financial development, promoting innovation, efficiency, and inclusivity.

RAK Telemetry (Real Time Dashboard)| RAKBANK

RAK Telemetry, a groundbreaking suite of 32 real-time and near real-time dashboards, offers a centralized platform to track and monitor essential business processes, integrating key data points and metrics to provide a comprehensive overview of onboarding journeys, service requests, transactions, and IT tickets status. By eliminating the need for multiple, disjointed tracking systems and manual data correlation, RAK Telemetry streamlines operations, enhances decision-making, and boosts overall efficiency. Businesses can leverage the tool to gain valuable insights into customer behavior, market trends, and operational performance, enabling them to respond swiftly to changing conditions and optimize their strategies.

Most Innovative Bank in North America | BANK OF AMERICA

Bank of America’s (BofA’s) dedication to improving customer experience is evident in the 12% increase in digital interactions by clients last year, reaching a recordbreaking 26 billion interactions. Corporate clients made over $1 trillion in payment approvals on the bank’s CashPro app in 2024—a 25% increase year on year.

Notable CashPro Data Intelligence innovations include CashPro Search with Investigations—the first comprehensive search-and-investigation tool across transaction types. Another innovation is CashPro Capital Markets Insights, which is the first integrated capital markets experience available in a treasury mobile app, offering access to investment-grade secondary bond pricing alongside treasury information.

The bank also launched Virtual Payables Direct, an innovative solution that combines BofA’s card-issuance, merchant-acquisition, and payment capabilities. For the first time, buyers can benefit from the working capital advantages of a card transaction while paying suppliers who prefer direct bank transfers: Payments begin as card transactions but are delivered to suppliers as bank transfers, ensuring that suppliers get paid quickly while buyers benefit from extended payment terms.

Most Innovative Financial Technology Company in North America | BATTERY FINANCE

In November 2024, Battery Finance executed a pioneering financial transaction by establishing a bitcoin reserve with shared appreciation benefits for both borrower and lender. This innovative approach was integrated into the collateral package for the refinancing of Project Bank Street Court, a seasoned multifamily mixed-use asset located in Center City, Philadelphia.

This groundbreaking transaction effectively enabled borrowers to leverage Bitcoin as collateral for loans. The structure of the deal was unique in its dual-collateralized nature—by combining Bitcoin with traditionally financeable assets, Battery Finance offered borrowers uncorrelated downside protection and enhanced the overall collateral package. This novel approach to collateralization mitigated risks associated with the volatility of Bitcoin while still allowing borrowers to capitalize on its potential for appreciation. 

Lumi Assistant | BMO

BMO uses an employee-assisting Gen AI solution, incorporating Amazon Web Services and Anthropic’s large language model, to read, interpret, and summarize complex documents including policies, procedures, operating manuals, and regulatory documents in a user-friendly format. Launched in March to support 200 employees, Lumi Assistant was expanded in April to support some 8,500 Canadian front-line bank employees. By the end of this year, BMO plans to make the solution available to over 14,600 Canadian personal and business banking employees.

Virtual Account Based Solutions (VABS) | BNY

In January, BNY launched VABS, a cash management solution that promises to provide clients with improved control and access to cash administration activities and reporting capabilities. VABS is one of the first cash management systems to offer instant access to robust, real-time transaction and balance reporting at the individual virtual account level and ACH allocations at the virtual account level. Virtual accounts can be linked to physical accounts within BNY and payments are reflected in real time.

Tokenization of the 1708 Stradivarius Violin, “Empress Caterina” | GALAXY DIGITAL

Galaxy Digital’s groundbreaking tokenization of the 1708 Stradivarius violin “Empress Caterina” last year established a new paradigm for high-value collectibles in the digital financial landscape. By enabling on-chain ownership tracking, the NFT ensures an immutable record while unlocking the potential for decentralized finance backed by real-world assets.

Asset Tokenization Studio| HEDERA

Hedera’s Asset Tokenization Studio, launched last September, is an open-source toolkit that streamlines the tokenization of bonds and equities. By integrating ownership records, compliance features, document management, and notifications directly on-ledger, it eliminates the need for off-chain data management, thereby reducing operational risk. The end-to-end solution improves upon the ERC-1400 standard, enabling full lifecycle management of tokenized assets.

TPRM Accounting Fintech, aka Sustainability Accounting Fintech (SAF)| LELE-HCM

SAF uses AI to enhance financial analysis and risk management via two platforms: Fintech V1 and Fintech V2. V1 generates reports for banks and third parties, helping to calculate risk-weighted assets. V2 allows for continuous monitoring and control, facilitating on-balance-sheet netting. Basel III regulations have shifted focus from the internal ratings-based approach to standardized methods for recognizing credit risk mitigation, a shift supported by SAF’s platforms.

Zenus Embedded Banking| ZENUS BANK

Last November, the Puerto Rico-based digital bank launched a first-of-its-kind, fully embedded banking platform. The API-driven solution enables other financial institutions around the world to set up dedicated US dollar accounts, process international payments, and offer cross-border Visa card issuance.

Most Innovative Bank in Western Europe | SOCIETE GENERALE

Societe Generale’s Global Transaction and Payment Services division has launched several new innovations to reduce their corporate clients’ workload. These include IKAR, a Gen AI chatbot for cash management product-documentation inquiries; and the Digitrade Tool, which uses advanced data analytics, including algorithms and pattern recognition, to personalize the document-checking process. The Digitrade Tool identifies and extracts key information from documents, adapting to the specific requirements of different transactions. By eliminating the need for paper checks and offering digital tools with multiple features, the tool provides users with a more convenient and tailored experience, aligning with their preferences for efficiency and accuracy.

Additionally, the bank’s X-Border API enables other banks to automatically send payment instructions to Societe Generale in 40 different currencies from a single account, benefiting from a guaranteed rate for 20 minutes after obtaining the quotation.

Most Innovative Financial Technology Company in Western Europe | REDCOMPASS LABS

AnalystAccelerator.ai is the world’s first multiagent AI solution engineered specifically to accelerate payments transformation. Developed by RedCompass Labs and launched in November 2024, this innovative tool leverages the extensive knowledge and experience gained from over 300 payment projects undertaken for leading global banks. It also utilizes the most comprehensive library of global payments documentation available.

Using AnalystAccelerator.ai, a business analyst can reduce manual work on a typical payment modernization project by up to 68%. Regulatory and project documentation updates that used to take weeks can be completed in under a day, saving banks millions of dollars and months of work. This leads to improved project outcomes and enhanced compliance with regulatory requirements.

In April this year, RedCompass Labs unveiled AnalystAccelerator.ai v2.5, an enhanced version fine-tuned on the largest collection of payments rulebooks in the world and outperforming leading general AI models. It delivers 13% better performance on complex payment-related tasks than GPT-4o and achieves a perplexity score 10 times lower than open-source AI models.

ADA (Analytics + Data + AI) Platform | BBVA

BBVA ADA, the first global data platform to fully integrate all countries in which the BBVA group has a presence, launched last November in Europe and Uruguay. The platform streamlines the end-to-end analytics process, utilizing 100% of the bank’s data and Amazon Web Services’ advanced managed services to optimize data processing, machine learning, and analytics. The combination improves the strategic capabilities and decision-making expertise of data scientists, analysts, and reporting teams throughout the organization.

New Signature for Operations in CaixaBank Group Applications | CAIXABANK

By consolidating the signing process on a single platform, CaixaBank has effectively eliminated the need for its customers to navigate multiple applications or interfaces to complete their banking tasks. The streamlined approach not only saves time but reduces the potential for error and enhances the overall user experience. The new authorization method incorporates advanced security measures to safeguard customers’ sensitive information and financial assets, ensuring they can conduct their banking activities knowing their transactions are protected by robust security protocols.

Mind Money Weather Model | MIND MONEY (FORMERLY ZERICH)

Mind Money Weather is the first quantitative model to connect operational weather forecasts and commodity prices. Typically, factoring weather data into trading strategies involves detecting significant patterns and combining these with meteorologists’ informal impact assessments, considering the economic context (demand, supply, stocks) but without a clear mathematical model. Instead of focusing on forecasting, Mind Money Weather centers on the formal, quantitative assessment of how weather affects commodity pricing.

More recently, the lab launched its “beyondbanking” initiative, an effort to identify nonfinancial markets that OTP Group could penetrate. To enter these nonbanking industries, the beyond-banking arm of the OTP lab creates new subsidiaries, acquires and integrates existing companies, and works with nonbanking partners. The beyond-banking ecosystem now consists of travel services, online real estate platforms, a health care marketplace, and other businesses. Of particular note is Fizz.hu, a curated online marketplace offering built-in financing options.

In Istanbul, the TEB Faktoring Digital Transformation Program was founded in 2022 as part of TEB Faktoring’s commitment to innovation. It operates as an internal innovation hub within TEB Faktoring, which is a subsidiary of Turkish Economy Bank (TEB) and its partner BNP Paribas. The program focuses on financial technologies, process automation, customer-experience enhancement, and operational efficiency within the factoring industry. While the program is an internal effort, TEB does collaborate with fintechs, startups, and other technology partners for specific programs. These startups benefit from aid in refining their business models and strategies. They also receive access to senior TEB executives, regulatory education, and insight into best practices, to help make products both compliant and commercially viable.

The program prides itself on an initiative that integrates AI-powered analytics into internal credit scoring. That capability has automated 80% of decision-making processes, significantly improving operational efficiency. The initiative has also enhanced customer experience by leading to faster approvals. Managing risk efficiently is critical in the factoring industry.

The program’s AI-driven risk-assessment tool offers customer specific financial products, by providing real-time risk evaluation. This ensures that each client receives a factoring solution best suited to its individual financial profile.

In Latin America, labs work to serve the underbanked.

Bancolombia Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Grupo Bancolombia. It partners primarily with startups in Series A and Series B rounds of investments—those that have already demonstrated strong market traction and a market fit for their products. In addition to financial investments—offered for stakes ranging from 2%-20% in the companies nurtured—Bancolombia offers mentoring for startups in the fields of business-model refinement, regulatory compliance, marketing strategy, operational efficiency, and scaling. The bank also helps startups open doors with potential partners in key markets.

As discussed previously, significant innovations to arise from the bank include new credit-scoring methodologies for microbusinesses developed by the startup Quipu. Working with the Ozone API open banking company, Bancolombia is building the type of open application programming interface (API) infrastructure essential for secure data sharing. This innovation will empower banks to harness shared financial data for enhanced customer insights and personalized services.

In an effort to help BTG Pactual become a destination for tech companies operating in Latin America, boostLAB Powered by BTG Pactual was founded in 2018. This acceleration-andinvestment program is part of the bank’s early-stage venture capital strategy. It focuses on startups between seed and Series A funding stages—those that have achieved product-market fit, built a customer base, and are ready to scale. The lab has accelerated and/or invested in 86 startups since its inception. The four companies nurtured in the 2024 cohort each received an investment of 1 million Brazilian reais (about $177,500 at today’s rate) from BTG Pactual in exchange for a 3% equity stake. BTG Pactual also retains the option to invest an additional R$1 million in the startups’ next funding round, with a 25% discount on the round’s valuation. Among companies nurtured is Intuitive Care, a software-as-a-service platform that automates manual and repetitive processes in hospitals, clinics, and other centers. In automating and optimizing processes for reconciling payments from different health care plans, Intuitive Care can help improve revenue for health care centers.

Banco Bradesco inovabra was launched in 2013. It offers a physical and digital co-innovation environment housing more than 220 startups—with different lab programs connecting to an additional 1,500. A capital vehicle of Bradesco called FIP Inovabra invests between R$20 million and R$75 million for a minority share in the companies nurtured.

Innovations to arise from the lab include a pilot project for the use of stablecoins in international transactions. A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency pegged to a reserve asset such as the euro or US dollar. This is an effort to combine consistent value with the flexibility and speed of digital assets. The pilot program at inovabra, instituted in partnership with the Parafin digital-payment company, will use stablecoins in international transactions, notably for the payment of imports. Also on tap is the bank’s first crypto-asset investment vehicle, a capability offered through a partnership with the Hashdex crypto-asset management firm.

Innovations continue in the Middle East.

Headquartered in Amman, Jordan, Arab Bank now has more than 600 branches in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Its AB Xelerate innovation and venture capital arm has, since 2018, completed more than 30 PoCs designed to improve banking operations and the overall experience of Arab Bank customers. In 2024 alone, AB Xelerate nurtured seven successful PoCs. These focused on deploying Gen AI to streamline legal processes, provide virtual financial assistance to customers, and perform other tasks. A co-creation space is offered in the Arab Bank Innovation Hub.

AB Xelerate has also invested in 10 startups. These operate in the fintech, embedded finance, cybersecurity, and banking-as-aservice arenas. Working with the Riyadh-based Intella company, for example, the bank is implementing a program to transcribe all customer calls into Arabic text. This capability makes it easier for Arab Bank to obtain customer insight. Working with a US cybersecurity company, the bank is enhancing its cybersecurity capabilities with zero-day threat detection.

AI Xelerate, an associated bootcamp, extends the bank’s reach to additional startups. In the bootcamp’s latest incarnation, it nurtured eight teams (from more than 100 startups that applied) for mentorship, workshops, networking, and the opportunity to pitch ideas to investors.

An Arab Bank internal innovation center, Acabes for Financial Technology, is dedicated to the continuous upgrading and enhancement of the bank’s digital offerings. Acabes is also focused on building new end-to-end technology platforms to digitalize and optimize Arab Bank’s internal processes and customer-facing experiences.

The Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures Lab is an intensive five-month accelerator designed to scale tech startups. It launched in 2017 in the United States and expanded in 2021 to include startup founders in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The lab promotes financial inclusion and provides founders with much-needed access to investors—along with the tools, resources, and connections needed to grow. The lab builds on the success of two other Morgan Stanley offerings—the Inclusive Ventures Lab and the Sustainable Solutions Collaborative—that together distributed more than $30 million in capital to more than 100 companies over the course of eight years.

Through the lab, Morgan Stanley offers early-stage, highgrowth companies mentorship, networking opportunities, office space and access to external advisers. Lab curriculum covers topics such as branding, pitch development, value-proposition refinement, and devising effective finance and sales strategies. Capital investment is either $250,000 or £250,000 (about $332,000) in each company nurtured, depending on the region in which it operates: $250,000 in the Americas. In exchange, Morgan Stanley takes a 5% stake.

The lab culminates in a demo day, during which participants pitch their companies to potential investors. These include venture capitalists, angel investors, and private equity firms. Recent companies nurtured include Research Grid, which has produced an automation engine to streamline administration of clinical medical trials; DotLab, which develops AI and machinelearning technologies geared toward improving health outcomes for women, notably in the field of diagnosing endometriosis; and Fluix, whose CoPilot AI software reduces energy costs for facilities by integrating and optimizing systems.

In 2024, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities launched the Japan Inclusive Ventures Lab, a startup acceleration program in that country. It graduated its first cohort in February of this year.

Now in its 12th year, TD Lab of TD Bank Group studies market and technology trends to identify potential solutions for TD Bank lines of business. The lab works to build functional prototypes for TD Bank, to grow TD intellectual property, and to influence product-development road maps.

As part of this work, the lab proposes, prioritizes, and builds new solutions to address core customer problems. It also monitors and tests emerging technologies to determine practical use cases for the bank. Working with TD’s External Ecosystems team, TD Lab monitors startups and entrepreneurs for their potential to deliver unique technologies or bring strategic value to TD. Selected startups may pitch directly to TD executives, explaining how the startup’s offerings can help meet bank challenges. Through partnerships with the External Ecosystems team, startups engaged through TD Lab may ultimately receive funding from or partnership with TD Bank.

Other significant External Labs include: Akbank LAB, Alior Bank/RBL_Start, Alios Cooperative, Barclays Eagle Labs, BNY Enterprise Innovation Group, BofA Breakthrough Lab, Citi Innovation Labs, Deutsche Bank Innovation Center, EFG EV Fintech, Elevator Lab Powered by Raiffeisen Bank International, ING Labs, Up2Stars/Intesa Sanpaolo, Visa Global Innovation Center, x15 Ventures/Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Yapi Kredi FRWRD.

At some FIs, innovation is germinated by staff.

Formally established in 2018, the CTBC Data & AI R&D Center in Taiwan now employs more than 200 people. Process optimization, improved customer service, automated risk management, automated fraud detection, and improved regulatory compliance are all areas of focus.

Most recently, the center has been investing its resources in Gen AI. It believes Gen AI can enhance operations, boost productivity, and redefine the customer experience. The bank plans to first deploy its Gen AI capabilities to optimize business operations and employee training. Eventually, these AI systems will provide bank employees with the type of market insights that can improve customer service. In back-office management, the bank will use AI to strengthen cybersecurity and fraud prevention.

Perhaps most important to CTBC, though, is the use of AI in compliance management. CTBC Bank says its AI technologies enable rapid data analysis, proactive risk detection, and real-time alerts to ensure regulatory compliance. By leveraging machine learning, the bank can now detect anomalous activities, trigger automatic alerts, and reduce manual compliance reviews by 25%.

China Zheshang Bank (CZBank) is a commercial bank based in Hangzhou. CZBank’s Network Security Innovation Laboratory, established in 2014, focuses on technological developments in network defense, data security, and other fields. Network security projects include building upon existing network protections to analyze evolving requirements, determine security-device capabilities, and clarify operational workflows. New projects establish a system for using situational awareness and other techniques to devise rapid warning, response, and threat-disposal capabilities. Data protection is also a concern, which the bank is addressing through the establishment of a holistic data-protection framework that uses a “zerotrust” approach to data access and control. Zero-trust protocols assume that no user or device should ever be automatically granted access to bank data. CZBank’s framework combines this protocol with continuous identity verification and other technological capabilities to provide comprehensive, dynamic, and flexible data protection and management.

Other Internal Labs of note include: ABC Labs/Bank ABC, BBVA AI Factory, Capital One Lab, CIB Innovation Group, Customer Experience LABs/CaixaBank, Fidelity Center for Applied Technology/Fidelity Labs, Goldman Sachs/GS Accelerate, Mastercard Labs as a Service, Moody’s, National Bank of Kuwait Group Digital Office, PayPal Innovation Labs, and SEB Embedded (SEB Group).

Some innovation centers are unaligned with banks, VC firms, or economic development organizations. Among these are Accenture’s Fintech Innovation Labs. This program operates around the globe and helps fintechs scale their businesses in competitive markets. Thus far, the lab has nurtured nearly 400 startups and helped raise more than $6.5 billion in capital. In Boston, Mass Challenge is a 501(c) accelerator. Its program offers early-stage startups mentorship, training, office space, legal advice, and access to funding.

Additional significant Independent Labs include: Beta-I, TechQuartier, and Tenity.

Understanding the monetary value of innovation, many venture capital firms and consultancies host their own fintech labs.

Hosting fintech labs provides VC firms access to promising, early-stage companies before those companies are widely known—providing lab hosts with a competitive investment edge. Accelerator Frankfurt nurtures business-to-business software startups focusing on financial, regulatory, and insurance technology, as well as other topics. Benefits received by these startups include more than 200 hours of mentoring in taxation, user experience, strategic planning, and other fields. Notable VC labs also include Startup Bootcamp. Operating in more than 20 countries, this accelerator has thus far nurtured more than 1,600 startups, helping them to achieve an average funding of about €1.7 million (about $1.9 million). Current programs focus on technology that addresses extraordinarily complex challenges—for example, extraterrestrial mining and gene editing. Additional programs nurture companies operating in the climate change and the health- and life-sciences fields.

Additional notable Venture Capital Labs include: Deloitte Catalyst, Plug and Play, Startup Wise Guys, Synechron, and Y Combinator.

Some fintech innovation labs work to improve economic and social conditions for vulnerable populations.

One example is the Asobancaria Social Innovation Lab. After Colombia’s social unrest of 2021, the Banking and Financial Associations of Colombia (Asobancaria) began to identify ways to better serve the banking needs of diverse populations, groups, and territories. The lab is part of this effort. Its projects target women, the elderly, youth, rural populations, ethnic groups, migrants, disabled persons, LGBTQ+ populations, and particular segments included in the peace-building process. The latter category includes both victims of armed conflict and former perpetrators trying to reintegrate into society.

Recent work has included financial-inclusion studies for LGBTQ+ and migrant populations. The studies examine market segmentation among these populations. The hope is that by using the findings of these studies, FIs can better tailor their products to meet specific needs of different subsets of these communities. The migrant study focused on those immigrating to Colombia from Venezuela. It examined how banks can improve their customer-service strategy for immigrants, reducing the barriers to financial services sometimes faced by this population.

WLab is the digital innovation lab of Colombia’s Banco W microfinance bank. Established in 2023, the lab’s mission is to design and implement digital solutions for microentrepreneurs and the underserved communities to which they cater. Its goals are threefold: to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation, to create an agile environment for experimentation and development of customer-focused capabilities, and to address the growing need for digital financial products meaningful to microentrepreneurs.

According to Juliana Jaramillo, Banco W innovation manager, microentrepreneurs in Colombia include everyone from vendors selling potato chips from street carts to owners of hair salons that may start with one chair but grow over time. The Covid-19 pandemic pushed this segment of the population to adopt digital capabilities, but tailoring bank offerings to meet these businesses’ specific needs can be challenging. “You have to take into consideration these microentrepreneurs’ level of education, the fact that their cell phones may not have the best connectivity, that their screens may be cracked,” Jaramillo says.

Offerings for these and other challenges faced by microentrepreneurs are developed at WLab’s physical workspace on the campus of Universidad Icesi in Cali. WLab is the only fintech innovation lab in Colombia directly connected to a university, and this partnership provides opportunities for collaboration with professors and students to develop solutions. For example, Jaramillo says that the lab worked with university professors to write copy for its digital products that would be understandable to people who find reading difficult.

WLab startups receive access to multidisciplinary expertise and opportunities for real-world testing. The lab’s startups include Truora, a company that simplifies and automates background checks, digital identity verification, and other processes; Powwi, which provides digital payments to enable secure transactions and improved financial management; and Quash, which deploys AI to help optimize business processes.

Innovations currently arising from the lab, or now being tested, include Billetera W, a digital wallet designed to offer microentrepreneurs and their customers secure, user-friendly, and accessible payment methods. To date, it has engaged roughly 78,250 users and has processed more than 2 million transactions.

Gotahorro Digital is another innovation. This microcredit product is designed to digitally provide Colombian microentrepreneurs with responsible financing options. Rather than using traditional research methods to verify business information—typically entailing a visit to the business from a bank representative—WLab now uses AI to scrape the web for information that supports business owners’ claims. This represents an evolution from initial Gotahorro processes. At first, applicants were asked to submit photos or videos of their businesses. However, the lab found that too many microentrepreneurs couldn’t take videos with their cell phone. Hence the move to AI-powered examination of alternative data.

Finally, in addition to WLab’s work with the university, it boasts a robust network of strategic partners and mentors Juliana Jarmillo Valencia, WLab innovation manager. dedicated to fostering innovation and growth among startups in the financial sector. Key partners include Fundacion WWB Colombia and Fundacion Grupo Social.

An initiative of the Brazilian Development Association, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission, the Brazilian Financial Innovation Lab (LAB) promotes cooperation and publicprivate dialogue between diverse actors to stimulate financial innovation and sustainable finance in Brazil. It also has a fintech working group. Its 1,408 individual and 372 institutional members represent FIs, government ministries, financial-market regulators, insurance and capital markets, public and private companies, fintechs, NGOs, and academic institutions. Most of its work takes place online.

The fintech working group specializes in promoting open innovation projects in fields such as crypto assets. It also studies ways to use data to identify and solve ESG challenges. Additional fields of study include green finance, social impact investment, and fintech innovation.

While acting primarily as a think tank, the lab does produce tangible projects. For example, in 2024 it compiled a pitch book consisting of technological offerings to meet ESG challenges. All offerings were submitted by startups. In 2025, the lab’s fintech working group is planning to advance initiatives related to AI and its use in sustainable-development projects.

Future plans include the establishment of a physical experimental environment to include a testing and learning hub. Development of a regulatory sandbox is also planned. Both initiatives will be coordinated by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission.

The European Investment Bank Group (EIB) is the world’s largest multilateral financial institution. It is owned by the 27 EU member nations. Its mission is to close gaps in innovation goals and skills as identified by EU policymakers. To do so, EIB partners with startups that use technology to cure the world’s ills. The Blue Champions Advisory Programme is a collaboration with the European Commission to support development of innovative technologies to restore oceans and other waters. Seventy companies applied for the program. Twenty were chosen in 2024, offering advanced technologies in fields such as decarbonization, electric vessels, underwater connectivity and transport, tidal energy products, and underwater robotics. Businesses nurtured—hailing from Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden—received training on investment pitches, market-commercialization strategies, and other topics, along with introductions to investors.

Additional Economic and Social Development Labs of note include: Copenhagen Fintech Lab, Cyberport, DIFC Fintech Hive, FinTech Innovation Lab, and Seoul Fintech Lab.