Feature
Central Banking Awards 2026: the winners in full
Awards recognise extraordinary achievements in another challenging year for central banks
Financial market infrastructure – retail: ACI Worldwide
The payments company’s digital central infrastructure has played a key role in Colombia’s Bre-B roll-out as well as elsewhere
Financial services: Citi
The US bank has striven to provide clients with high-level advice as well as service breadth, technical expertise and execution
Currency manager: Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten
The central bank overcame a nine-year hiatus to launch the Caribbean guilder
Digital transformation award: Bank of Mexico
Banxico has replaced critical systems with ‘living’, adaptive, decentralised architecture
Reserve management initiative: World Bank Group Treasury’s uninvested cash view dashboard
The multilateral body has harnessed customer data to provide central banks with insights about potential lost earnings linked to parked cash and overdrafts
Central bank of the year: Central Bank of Nigeria
A return to policy orthodoxy under new leadership at the African central bank helped to bring Nigeria’s economy back from the brink
Payment services: CMA Small Systems
The Swedish technology company has played a critical role in supporting payment upgrades
Initiative of the year: Reserve Bank of India
By mandating a domain name for the country’s lenders, the RBI has struck a blow against cyber fraud
Payments and market infrastructure development – wholesale: National Bank of Ethiopia
The East African central bank has implemented a major overhaul of Ethiopia’s core financial infrastructure
Financial markets infrastructure services – wholesale: Bloomberg
Tech firm helped Nigeria and Sri Lanka’s central banks to build essential FX market infrastructure, and Portugal and Ukraine’s treasuries to optimise debt auctions
Payments and market infrastructure development – retail: Central Bank of Colombia’s Bre-B
Colombia’s new federated payments system achieved success due to thoughtful planning, proactive regulation and successful onboarding
Artificial intelligence initiative: Bank of Namibia
A concerted effort to implement AI has delivered efficiency gains within and across the financial sector
Communications initiative: Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Innovative campaign supported by top leadership has helped counter rising levels of financial scams
Regtech/suptech services: Regnology
Supervisory hub offers data sovereignty and essential upgrades in secure public cloud
Financial stability initiative: Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
A holistic approach is enabling the central bank to reinforce financial stability, despite country’s challenging institutional set-up
Economics in central banking: Bruno Tiberto
The Brazilian economist’s work delivers a robust study of how independence affects inequality, at a critical time for the BCB’s autonomy
Transparency award: Bank of England
UK central bank moves out of its ‘comfort zone’ with targeted efforts towards market counterparties and Gen Z citizens
Technology services: Vermeg
Vermeg’s Megara is the engine behind Europe’s landmark collateral ecosystem
Advisory services: Oliver Wyman
The firm’s crisis management expertise has supported efforts at G20 central banks, the BIS and Iraq
Governor of the year: Jerome Powell
The Fed chair has shown high levels of integrity and resolve in upholding his public duty in the pursuit of price stability and maximum employment