The upcoming MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2026: Retail, Digital & SME is set to leave a significant footprint in the financial landscape. Taking place as part of Dubai Future Finance Week (DFFW) 2026, these awards further solidify Dubai’s status as a global epicenter for financial innovation, leadership, and regulatory excellence.
Anticipating the Awards Ceremony on 12 May 2026
Mark your calendars for 12 May 2026 as this is when the awards ceremony will take place. The event is scheduled to be held in Dubai, running in conjunction with the Dubai FinTech Summit. This flagship event is part of the Dubai Future Finance Week, set to unfold from 11–15 March 2026. The co-location of these events will provide a high-profile platform, connecting senior banking leaders, policymakers, innovators, and investors who are shaping the future of financial services.
MEED presents the MENA Banking Excellence Awards, supported by the robust data-driven resources of GlobalData’s Intelligence Centres. The awards are independently validated by experts from Retail Banker International, Celent, TS Lombard, and MEED.
The program aims to provide a robust, data-driven benchmark for excellence across retail, digital, and SME banking in the Middle East and North Africa. The awards are designed to acknowledge institutions delivering measurable impact, innovation, and performance.
“Becoming part of Dubai Future Finance Week marks a major step forward for the MENA Banking Excellence Awards,” said Sarah Rizvi, Banking & Finance editor at MEED. “It places the region’s most progressive banks within a truly global forum: one that brings together financial leadership, innovation, and policy at scale. This alignment significantly enhances the visibility, credibility, and strategic relevance of the awards.”
His Excellency Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, reaffirmed: “Dubai’s vision is to shape the global economy, and Dubai Future Finance Week is a natural extension of that ambition. The Week will strengthen this position by enabling engagement across finance, technology, regulation, and investment, in support of the ambitions set out under the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.”
His Excellency Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority, added: “Dubai Future Finance Week reflects our commitment to providing platforms that bring the global financial community together to navigate change and identify new opportunities.”
Entries for the awards are now open
As part of the Dubai Future Finance Week program, the awards are complemented by CXO Leadership Think Tanks. These forums are part of MEED and GlobalData’s Global Networking Series. These closed-door forums convene senior banking executives for peer-level dialogue on strategic priorities shaping the next phase of financial leadership, including AI governance, digital resilience, sustainability and inclusive growth.
Entries for the MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2026: Retail, Digital & SME are now open. Banks and financial institutions across the region are invited to submit their initiatives for independent recognition on a global stage.
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