Khaberni - The Innovator Awards from Global Finance magazine honor the Center for Innovation and Digitalization of ABC Bank "ABC Labs", by selecting it among the most prominent financial innovation labs in the world, in recognition of its pioneering role in delivering tangible commercial value that reshapes the future of the banking sector.
Manama, Bahrain: Today, ABC Bank, a leading provider of international banking services in the Middle East and North Africa, announced the selection of its Innovation and Digitalization Center "ABC Labs" among the "Best Financial Innovation Labs in the World" list as a part of the Global Finance Innovator Awards for the year 2025. This award, which the bank has won for the fourth time, confirms ABC Bank's excellence in transforming AI and digitalization solutions into tangible outcomes that impact the group and the global financial services ecosystem.
Since its establishment, ABC Labs has been the main driver of the group's innovation and digitalization program, playing a central role in leading the comprehensive transformation journey at the group level through the innovation and launch of impactful digital capabilities. ABC Labs continues its leadership in launching digital platforms and AI-supported solutions that are the first of their kind regionally, resulting in increased productivity and accelerating the introduction of products to the market, besides delivering unique customer experiences that exceed their expectations across all ABC Bank markets.
The labs play a key role in developing new idea concepts and transforming them into ready-to-use solutions; enabling the group to achieve sustainable and scalable value through innovative methods. These initiatives have succeeded in delivering results that reflect on the quality of customer experience and operational performance effectiveness, aside from launching quality services and products that enhance the position of ABC Bank as the bank of the future.
Among the most notable achievements of ABC Labs:
Leading in AI and autonomous operation solutions
• Launching AI assistants for businesses: Success in launching the first AI assistants designated for internal and external use in the region, by employing multiple technologies to manage data and information as strategic assets; resulting in the acceleration of many internal business processes, achieving a leap in productivity rates by up to 10%.
• Smart autonomous operation: Implementing advanced autonomous operation projects on a wide scale, contributing to saving over 100,000 hours of annual work, resulting in a significant qualitative shift in operational performance efficiency.
• Predictive analysis: Launching next-generation AI predictive models to provide highly customized experiences; expected to contribute to increasing customer engagement rates by 25% within targeted segments.
Excellence in digitalization
The 24-hour standard: The bank succeeded in launching the first completely digital registration journey for institutions in the region, which helped reduce the time to deliver the service and complete company registration procedures within less than 24 hours.
Empowering frontline staff: Launching a next-gen digital platform aimed at empowering front-line staff by providing them with immediate analytical insights and a comprehensive view of customer data, simplifying integrated workflows.
Advancement in digital assets
Show encrypted deposits for cross-border transactions: Launching the first capabilities in the region for high-value cross-border payment encrypted deposits, with instant transactions that went into actual operation; along with expanding interaction in a regulatory framework-based digital assets ecosystem.
In his remarks on this achievement, Dr. Youssef Al-Maas, Head of Digitalization at Bank ABC, stated: "Winning this award for the fourth time is the best proof of the success of our strategy and precise execution. ABC Labs plays a central role in creating value across the group by turning innovations into scalable and concrete solutions. This recognition reflects the strength of our teams, our systematic approach to innovation, and our focus on achieving tangible impacts for our clients, employees, and communities, especially as we enter the era of financial AI and AI-driven economics."
On his part, Mr. Joseph Giaraputo, Editor-in-Chief of Global Finance magazine, said: "The Financial Innovation Labs play a central role in driving the digital innovation journey by transforming bold ideas into practical, scalable solutions. The institutions selected within the list of 'Best Financial Innovation Labs in the World for 2025' truly embody the essence of leadership in the financial services sector."
