Banks and fintechs win industry awards
The banking industry is undergoing significant changes, with new approaches transforming the way financial services are developed and delivered. Banks are rethinking their digital products and customer experiences, while fintechs are introducing new use cases and embedded finance and payments are becoming more integrated into everyday business.
The Big Bank Theory Awards, presented by Tearsheet, recognize the companies driving this evolution. This year’s winners include a range of organizations, from established and challenger banks to fintechs, technology providers, and partners building the infrastructure behind modern financial services.
2026 Big Bank Theory Awards Winners
The winners of the 2026 Big Bank Theory Awards reflect the breadth of the banking ecosystem and the different ways companies are pushing financial services forward. Temenos was named Best Banking Technology Provider for its composable approach to modernizing banking systems.
Temenos has helped banks such as Commerce Bank to modernize their systems, with its Value Benchmark reporting a 94% increase in customers per FTE for banks using Temenos Core. The company has also embedded AI across its platform, supporting developers and financial crime screening.
Citizens Bank won the Best Banking App Award for simplifying mobile banking and creating a seamless user experience. The bank redesigned 65 experiences and moved 2.4 million customers onto the new platform, making tasks such as making payments and managing accounts easier to complete.
Pathward was named Partner Bank of the Year for its broad financial infrastructure and risk, compliance, and operational foundation, which supports fintechs in scaling their operations. The company has partnered with organizations such as H&R Block, InComm Payments, and PayPal.
Innovative Partnerships Shine
The winners also include Octane and Huntington Bank, which won the Best Bank-Fintech Partnership Award for creating a unified financing experience for the outdoor power equipment industry. Parafin won the Best Overall Embedded Finance Platform Award for making small-business financing available directly within the platforms businesses already use.
Other winners include PayJoy, which won the Serving the Underserved Award for expanding credit access to first-time borrowers in markets with limited traditional credit infrastructure. CineFi won the Best New Product Award for bringing fully digital banking to entertainment professionals.
As the banking industry continues to evolve, these companies are driving innovation and transformation. With their focus on customer experience, digitalization, and partnerships, they are helping to shape the future of financial services.
Advances in Payments Tech
In the area of payments, DailyPay received the Best Payments as a Service Platform Award for giving employees access to wages they have already earned before payday. The company’s platform provides a real-time view of accessible pay and lets workers transfer funds to bank accounts, debit cards, or payment cards.
Lumin Digital won the Best Banking as a Service Platform Award for building a cloud-native platform designed to drive measurable growth for financial institutions. Independent research found that institutions using Lumin generated $12.8 million in cumulative impact and 145% ROI over five years.
The 2026 Big Bank Theory Awards winners are being recognized for their innovative approaches to financial services, and their contributions to the evolution of the banking industry.
Real World Impact Grows
For example, Parafin’s embedded finance platform has extended over $45 billion in financing offers to more than 50,000 businesses since 2020, with 85% of first-time borrowers taking a second advance. This kind of innovation is making access to capital a more integrated part of everyday business workflows.
Since launching in March 2026, the program has grown from 20 pilot dealers to more than 900 enrolled dealerships.
