American Banker has opened up 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 celebrates achievements from new markets and infrastructure to tools, products and services.

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

Honorees from all 10 categories will be announced in May and recognized in person at Digital Banking, our live event in Orlando, FL, June 15-17, 2026. An overall Innovation of the Year also will be revealed at the event.

Submit your application by Friday, December 5, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST.

Eligible innovations were launched during 2025 and involve a bank, financial institution, or a fintech firm with a banking charters 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 PM 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.