Saturday, 22 February 2025
The following are the current and most updated awards categories. These categories are adjusted periodically to align with the industry transformation. In 2024, ‘Best Transaction Bank’ category was introduced to honour overall excellence, while the ‘Most Sustainable Transaction Bank’, launched in 2022, continues to gain strong interest from regional and global banks. Recognising tokenisation's impact on transaction banking, ‘Best Tokenisation Initiative’ was added under the Frictionless Transaction Awards in 2024.
With domestic Asian transaction banks emerging as a regional force, we have expanded the scope of the awards to include a broader range of Regional Transaction Finance Awards. These awards recognise domestic banks headquartered in Asia-Pacific that have significantly grown their franchise and network in key growth markets across the region. In addition, with significant growth in Financial Institution (FI) solutions over the past two years, we now feature a dedicated questionnaire for currency clearing across major currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, RMB) and institutional payments.
Note that in our awards classification, International Transaction Banks refer to international banks operating in a particular region, while Domestic Transaction Banks refer to institutions having a domestic/ regional presence in key regional markets only.
Financial institutions from Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa can choose to apply across more than 40 different award categories. These awards are open to banks, non-bank financial institutions, financial technology companies, and other alternative players from Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. Each category lists awards applicable specific to region, unless otherwise stated.
1. International Transaction Finance Awards – Asia Pacific
The International Transaction Finance Awards recognise international transaction banks with a strong regional franchise that demonstrate the successful implementation of global customer mandates, while supporting complex financial operations across multiple geographies in the region.
- Best International Transaction Bank in Asia Pacific*
- Best Asian International Transaction Bank in Asia Pacific**
- Best International Cash Management Bank in Asia Pacific
- Best International Institutional Payments Bank in Asia Pacific
- Best International Trade Finance Bank in Asia Pacific
- Best International Supply Chain Finance Bank in Asia Pacific
- Most Sustainable Transaction Bank in Asia Pacific
* International transaction banks are those with a global network, and typically not headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region.
**Best Asian International Transaction Bank in Asia Pacific is awarded to a domestic Asian transaction bank that is headquartered in the region and has an expanding regional presence.
Regional Transaction Finance Awards – Asia Pacific
Regional Transaction Finance Awards recognise domestic banks headquartered in Asia Pacific, and which have progressively expanded their franchise and network in key growth markets across this region.
- Best Regional Cash Management Bank in Asia Pacific
- Best Regional Trade Finance Bank in Asia Pacific
- Best Regional Supply Chain Finance Bank in Asia Pacific
2. Payments and Currency Clearing Awards, Asia Pacific (applies to Asia Pacific only)
The Payments and Currency Clearing Awards recognise the increasing development and sophistication of multi-currency and cross-currency clearing capabilities of global banks. Winning banks are selected based on a combination of their payment and foreign exchange (FX) capabilities, as well as their currency clearing services rankings by domestic banks in the FI satisfaction survey.
- Best Global (Multi-currency) Clearing Bank
- Best Dollar Clearing Bank
- Best EURO Clearing Bank
- Best GBP Clearing Bank
- Best JPY Clearing Bank
- Best RMB Clearing Bank
3. Domestic Transaction Finance Awards (By Country)
The domestic awards, also known as Transaction Finance Awards by country, recognise leading transaction service providers within their respective countries across the Asia-Pacific region. They typically demonstrate a significant market presence, the ability to secure a substantial share of local corporate wallets in cash management and working capital and excel in resolving operational challenges in a domestic context.
- Best Transaction Bank
- Best Cash Management Bank
- Best Trade Finance and/or Supply Chain Finance Bank
- Best Corporate Payments Bank
4. Frictionless Transaction Awards in Asia Pacific
Frictionless Transaction Awards are designed to track and recognise customer initiatives through a solution-centric approach. Winners exemplify excellence in customers' problem scoping, effective solutioning across several emerging categories, and, more importantly, significant impact demonstrated through improvements in customer financial and non-financial metrics.
- Best API Initiative
- Best Blockchain in Trade Finance Initiative
- Best Collection Solution/Initiative
- Best Corporate Mobile Initiative
- Best Digital Business Banking Platform/Initiative
- Best Digital KYC/Onboarding Initiative
- Best Digital Trade Finance Platform
- Best ERP Integration/H2H Solution, Initiative
- Best Financial Supply Chain Initiative
- Best Foreign Exchange (FX) Solution, Initiative
- Best Payments Initiative
- Best Productivity, Efficiency and Automation Initiative
- Best Tokenisation Initiative
- Best Treasury Management Solution
- Best Virtual Account Management Initiative
- Most Sustainable Trade and Supply Chain Finance Initiative
5. Leadership in Transaction Finance Awards
The Transaction Finance Person of the Year recognises global and/or regional transaction bankers with exceptional leadership skills, perseverance, vision and verve to grow their franchises sustainably. Winners demonstrated distinguished career in financial services, leadership of successful institutions with a robust performance track record, inspirational achievements during challenging and transformational periods, and a significant impact that sets a precedent in the industry. Please note that banks are not required to nominate their heads for this award. The Asian Banker, in conjunction with the advisory council, maintain a list of leading practitioners and nominate the Transaction Finance Person of the Year.
6. Bankers’ Choice Awards
Bankers’ Choice Awards, industry’s first bank-partner corporate recognition programme, recognise winners who collectively leverage the financial supply chain to add value to their business partners' upstream and downstream activities. In these set of awards, partner banks mandate execution capabilities and customers’ resilience are jointly recognised.
1. Financial Supply Chain Awards
- Best Balance Sheet Management
- Best Financial Supply Chain Management
- Best Inventory Management
- Best Supplier Relationship Management
2. Bank-Client Partnership Awards
- Best Cash Management Project
- Best Corporate Trade Finance Deal
- Best Corporate Payments Project
- Best Transactional FX Deal
