Bank ABC, a leading international bank in the MENA region, has 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 marks the fourth time the Bahrain-based lab has received this prestigious recognition, cementing its position as a leader in deploying cutting-edge technology to drive tangible business outcomes.
A Disciplined Approach to Innovation
Since its inception, ABC Labs has been the driving force behind Bank ABC’s group-wide digital transformation. The lab focuses on progressing ideas from concept to production, creating scalable and high-impact capabilities that have consistently delivered regional-first digital platforms and AI-driven solutions.
Dr. Yousif Almas, Group Chief Digitisation Officer, commented on the achievement, stating, “ABC Labs plays a 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.”
Pioneering AI and Automation
ABC Labs has made significant strides in artificial intelligence and automation. The lab launched the region’s first bespoke internal and external AI assistants, which have accelerated internal workflows and delivered productivity improvements of up to 10 percent.
Furthermore, its advanced intelligent automation initiatives are now saving the bank more than 100,000 work hours annually while significantly enhancing operational efficiency. The bank has also deployed next-generation predictive AI models to enable hyper-personalised customer engagement, with interaction levels projected to rise by 25 percent across targeted segments.
Redefining Digital Banking and Assets
In its push for digitisation, ABC Labs delivered the region’s first fully digital institutional onboarding journey, the “24-Hour Benchmark,” which enables client onboarding in under 24 hours. The lab has also ventured into digital assets, introducing the region’s first tokenised deposit capability for high-value cross-border transactions, allowing for instant settlement within a regulated ecosystem.
These achievements have garnered praise from the international community. Joseph Giarraputo, Publisher and Editorial Director at Global Finance, said, “Financial innovation labs play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between theory and real-world application. The organisations selected as Global Finance’s World’s Best Financial Innovation Labs 2025 are true pioneers.”
About Bank ABC
Bank ABC is a leading international bank providing wholesale financial services across capital markets, transaction banking, specialised finance, Islamic finance, real estate finance, and financial markets. It also offers retail banking services in Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, in addition to its digital, mobile-only ila Bank in Bahrain and Jordan.
Source: MEATechWatch
