Across the world, bankers have been arming themselves with ever more inventive and innovative technology solutions, to tackle the problems of difficult and increasingly regulated financial markets. The Banker celebrates banks and their technology providers' efforts in its newly expanded Innovation in Technology and Transaction Banking Awards 2013.

A tighter regulatory environment, more competition for customers and the evolution of new technologies have pushed the role of technology in the banking sector even further into the spotlight over the past year. A forward-looking approach and technical expertise are now considered vital to the banking business, and in every sector of the banking industry; from retail and transaction banking to capital markets, the need to innovate and upgrade technologies has been high on the agenda.

Many new developments have been driven by the changing regulatory landscape, with a series of deadlines, such as that for the Single Euro Payments Area, imminent. And, as ever, there has also been an influx of new technologies and innovative thinking that has helped inspire further breakthroughs.

Changing times

To reflect the changing shape and scope of the technology space, The Banker has transformed the format and remit of its awards. What used to be two separate awards – for technology and transaction banking – have now been merged into one that better reflects the close relationship between the two areas. These awards have also been expanded.

While last year there was only one overall transaction banking award, this year there are a range of categories. New trends and technologies also necessitated the addition of new awards for technology, and this year, The Banker celebrates innovation in areas such as social media, mobile and ATMs. Finally, these awards have been moved to September to coincide with the annual Sibos conference.At a time when tougher regulations and tightening capital requirements could be limiting the reach of the banking sector, bright new ideas and smart technologies are opening up new opportunities and helping institutions to thrive. It is the people behind these projects and achievements that The Banker’s Innovation in Technology and Transaction Banking Awards 2013 celebrates. The awards also recognise the advances made by technology solution providers and advisers.

As always, the quality of entries impressed the judges and made choosing the best in class even more challenging. The number of submissions was also impressive, with categories such as Innovation in Customer Service and Innovation in Mobile Banking each attracting more than 15 entries, despite the fact that institutions were allowed just one entry per category and projects could not be entered more than once in different categories.

Stellar year

Overall, the profile of entrants was diverse, ranging from global heavyweights such as BNP Paribas and Citi, to smaller but no less impressive local players such as Ukraine's Privatbank and Poland's BRE Bank. The entrants came from more than 24 countries across Europe, central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, the US, Asia and Latin America.

One bank that stood out in particular was DenizBank, which won the global award for retail banking, as well as coming out on top in the categories for mobile banking and social media. DenizBank, a subsidiary of Russian giant Sberbank, is only the eighth biggest bank in Turkey, but its innovative projects, such as its Facebook branch, made it stand out not only among Turkish banks, but among global competitors.

In the vendor category, entrants were less diverse, with household names such as SunGard, IBM and Misys dominating. In the past year, these companies not only proved that they were the leading lights in technological innovation, but also showed their mettle in the consultancy business. As many of the entrants in this category demonstrated, consultancy is becoming an ever-larger part of vendors' business.

The winners of the technology categories were chosen by external judges with expertise in capital markets, retail banking, regulation and corporate banking. For the vendor category, The Banker surveyed more than 20 banking chief information officers from around the world. As usual, the CIO judges will remain anonymous, so that no sensitive information about ongoing projects would need to be made public. The Transaction Banking Awards kept the same format as the overall award last year, with these awards judged by in-house experts.  

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