The Mena Banking Excellence Awards 2026: Retail, Digital & SME will take place as part of Dubai Future Finance Week (DFFW) 2026. This marks a significant milestone for the awards and further strengthens Dubai’s position as a global hub for financial innovation, leadership and regulatory excellence.

Awards ceremony: 12 May 2026

The awards ceremony will be held on 12 May 2026 in Dubai, co-located with the Dubai FinTech Summit, the flagship event of Dubai Future Finance Week (taking place from 11-15 March 2026). Together, they create a high-profile platform connecting senior banking leaders, policymakers, innovators and investors shaping the future of financial services.

Presented by MEED and powered by GlobalData’s Intelligence Centres, the Mena Banking Excellence Awards are independently validated by experts from MEED, Retail Banker International, TS Lombard and Celent.

The programme provides a robust, data-driven benchmark for excellence across retail, digital and SME banking in the Middle East and North Africa, recognising institutions delivering measurable impact, innovation and performance.

“Becoming part of Dubai Future Finance Week marks a major step forward for the Mena Banking Excellence Awards,” said Sarah Rizvi, banking and finance editor at MEED.

“It places the region’s most progressive banks within a truly global forum: one that brings together financial leadership, innovation and policy at scale. This alignment significantly enhances the visibility, credibility and strategic relevance of the awards.”

Essa Kazim, governor of DIFC, said: “Dubai’s vision is to shape the global economy, and Dubai Future Finance Week is a natural extension of that ambition. The week will strengthen this position by enabling engagement across finance, technology, regulation and investment, in support of the ambitions set out under the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.”

Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFC Authority, added that “Dubai Future Finance Week reflects our commitment to providing platforms that bring the global financial community together to navigate change and identify new opportunities.”

Entries for the awards are now open

As part of the Dubai Future Finance Week programme, the awards are complemented by CXO Leadership Think Tanks, part of MEED and GlobalData’s Global Networking Series. These closed-door forums convene senior banking executives for peer-level dialogue on strategic priorities shaping the next phase of financial leadership, including artificial intelligence governance, digital resilience, sustainability and inclusive growth.

Entries for the Mena Banking Excellence Awards 2026: Retail, Digital & SME are now open, inviting banks and financial institutions across the region to submit their initiatives for independent recognition on a global stage.