The financial services technology community gathered this week to celebrate innovation and collaboration at the 2026 FStech Awards, with organisations from across banking, payments, FinTech and technology recognised for their achievements over the past year.

Held at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on 13 March, the event brought together senior technology leaders, FinTech innovators and financial institutions to recognise projects and products shaping the future of financial services. The awards highlighted advancements across data analytics, artificial intelligence, payments, cyber security and digital transformation.

Several organisations secured multiple accolades on the night. Domestic & General was among the most successful winners, taking home the Best Use of Data Analytics award as well as honours for Best Customer Service and Experience Technology and Most Innovative B2C Product of the Year.

HCLSoftware also enjoyed a strong evening, winning Employee Experience Technology, Cyber Security Solution of the Year and Best Technology Provider Collaboration. Meanwhile HCLTech secured two awards alongside major banking partners, winning Digital Transformation Project of the Year – Enterprise with NatWest and Risk Management Solution of the Year with Deutsche Bank.

Artificial intelligence continued to feature prominently across the awards. Featurespace and NatWest were recognised for Best Use of AI for Risk Management and Financial Crime Prevention, while Checkout.com won Best Use of AI for Operational Efficiency and Customer Experience. ANNA Money received the GenAI Application in Financial Services award and Napier AI was recognised for its AI Ethics and Governance Initiative.

Payments innovation was another key theme. Deutsche Bank won Retail Payments Innovation of the Year, while the Bank of England and Accenture took the Wholesale Payments Innovation of the Year award for their collaborative work in this area.

ClearBank secured two major accolades, winning both Most Disruptive Financial Sector Technology and ESG Excellence in Banking. Meanwhile PANTA was named Startup of the Year and also received the Financial Sector Innovation of the Year award.

Other winners included Lloyds Banking Group for Best Use of IT in Consumer Finance, Xceptor for Best Use of IT in Investment Banking and Allica Bank for Best Use of IT in Commercial Finance. ID-Pal won the Digital Identity Innovation category, while Maveric NXT and MuchBetter were recognised for Banking as a Service – Platform of the Year.

In the payments and risk categories, Ecommpay received both the Anti-fraud Solution of the Year and Financial Inclusion awards. Teceim, formerly Finastra, won RegTech and Compliance Project of the Year, while GIST Impact secured the ESG and Sustainability Solution of the Year award.

The evening also recognised individual and team achievements across the sector. Tom Porter, co-founder and chief technology and data officer at Fundpath, was named CTO/CIO of the Year, while the J.P. Morgan Asset and Wealth Management team won Best Financial Services IT Team. Morningstar Wealth was recognised as Technology Provider of the Year, and Nucleus Commercial Finance won both Best Use of Embedded Finance and Open Banking and Financial Institution and Technology Provider Project of the Year.

Acclaimed comedian Maisie Adam hosted the ceremony and quickly struck up a strong rapport with the audience, bringing energy and humour to the evening. Her quick wit and engaging style helped keep the event flowing smoothly and drew frequent laughter from the room as winners were announced.

The 2026 awards were supported by sponsors GBST, HCLTech and Shawbrook, whose backing helped bring together the financial services technology community for the evening’s celebrations.

Surmising the event, FStech editor Jonathan Easton praised the winners and the wider financial technology community for continuing to innovate despite challenging market conditions.

“Events like the FStech Awards demonstrate the strength and resilience of the financial technology sector,” he said. “At a time when the industry is facing considerable unpredictability, it is encouraging to see organisations across the ecosystem coming together to recognise innovation, collaboration and the projects that are helping shape the future of financial services."

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