ABC Labs wins the ‘World’s Best Financial Innovation Labs’ award for the fourth time

Bank ABC, MENA’s international banking powerhouse, today announced that its innovation and digitisation centre, ABC Labs, has been named among the World’s Best Financial Innovation Labs by Global Finance’s 2025 Innovators Awards. This fourth consecutive recognition underscores Bank ABC’s sustained leadership in translating innovation, AI, and digitisation into tangible business outcomes across the Group and the wider global financial services ecosystem.

Since its establishment, ABC Labs has served as the engine of the Group’s Innovation and Digital Programme, driving enterprise-wide transformation through the design and deployment of high-impact capabilities. ABC Labs has consistently delivered regional-first digital platforms and AI-driven solutions that contribute to improved productivity, faster time-to-market, and differentiated customer experiences across Bank ABC’s markets.

ABC Labs plays a central role in progressing ideas from concept to production, enabling the Group to realise sustainable and scalable value in new ways. Its initiatives have generated measurable gains across customer experience, operational efficiency, and new products/services reinforcing Bank ABC’s position as a Bank of the Future.

Highlights of ABC Labs’ Achievements:

AI & Automation Leadership

•    Enterprise AI Assistants: Launched the region’s first bespoke internal and external AI assistants, leveraging multiple AI approaches to manage intelligence as a strategic asset resulting in accelerating several internal journeys and delivering productivity improvements of up to 10%.

•    Intelligent Automation: Implemented advanced automation at scale, saving over 100,000 work hours annually and materially enhancing operational efficiency.

•    Predictive Engine: Recently deployed next-generation predictive AI models to enable hyper-personalised engagements, with customer interaction projected to increase by 25% across targeted segments.

Digitisation Excellence

•    The 24-Hour Benchmark: Delivered the region’s first fully digital institutional onboarding journey, reducing time-to-serve and enabling onboarding in less than 24 hours.

•    Frontline Empowerment: Rolled out a next generation digital platform empowering frontliners with real-time insights, holistic views and streamlined workflows.

Digital Assets Advancements

•    Tokenised Deposits for Cross-Border Transactions: Introduced the region’s first tokenised deposit capabilities for high-value cross-border payments with instant transactions executed in production while expanding participation in a regulated digital-assets ecosystem.

Commenting on the achievement, Dr. Yousif Almas, Group Chief Digitisation Officer, said: “Winning this award for the fourth time is a strong validation of our strategy and execution.

ABC Labs plays pivotal role in enabling value creation across the Group by translating innovation into scalable, real-world solutions. This recognition reflects the strength of our people, our disciplined approach to innovation, and our focus on delivering real impact for clients, employees, and communities as we enter the FinAI era and the emerging agentic economy.”

Commenting on this year’s awards, Joseph Giarraputo, Publisher and Editorial Director of Global Finance, said: “Financial Innovation Labs play a pivotal role in propelling the ongoing digital revolution by bridging the gap between theoretical concepts and practical applications. They transform groundbreaking ideas into innovative solutions that reshape industries and redefine financial services. The organizations selected as Global Finance’s World’s Best Financial Innovation Labs 2025 are true pioneers.”