American Banker is now accepting nominations for our Innovation of the Year awards, which recognize 2025's most groundbreaking and influential technology-focused innovations and the teams that brought them to life at banks, financial institutions and fintechs with banking charters or licenses. The awards celebrate achievements including the creation of new products, services, tools, technologies, infrastructure or markets shaping the future of financial services.
Winners will be announced and celebrated at American Banker's Digital Banking Conference taking place June 15-17 in Orlando, Florida, during a special awards gala honoring the innovators and their teams.
Honorees will come from across the following categories of innovation:
Digital + Mobile-First Banking
Open Banking + Open Finance
Regulation + Compliance + Risk Management
Artificial Intelligence + Cloud Computing
Embedded Finance
Payments
Banking as a Service
Cybersecurity + Fraud
On-Chain Finance (Crypto + Blockchain)
Other Innovations
Eligibility
Eligible innovations were launched during 2025 and involve a bank, financial institution, or a fintech firm with a banking charter or license. We welcome nominations for tech innovations that banks or financial institutions launched with partner firms, including fintechs, tech vendors, agencies, law firms and venture or private equity funds.
There is no limit on the number of individuals who can participate but only the leader and four colleagues or partners will be recognized by name.
We will accept nominations until Friday, December 5, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST. We do not require a nomination to be eligible to win an award.
American Banker's editorial team will review nominations and select the innovations to be recognized based on the return on investment, other measurable impacts or benefits, and whether it creates a new paradigm or broadly influences the market.
All information provided in the nomination form, with the exclusion of personal contact information, may be used for publication.
Deadline: Friday, December 5, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST
Please send any questions to awards@arizent.com.
For information about sponsoring Innovation of the Year, contact Brad Bava at hilary.whidden@arizent.com.
