Nineteen years ago, The Payments Association created an awards programme to do one thing well: recognise the organisations and people genuinely moving payments forward. Not the loudest voices or the biggest marketing budgets. The ones doing the work.
In 2026, more companies entered The PAY360 Awards than in any year before. Twenty-one categories and over 70 independent judges drawn from some of the most respected organisations in the sector, including Mastercard, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and AWS. Their job was to find the best, and by all accounts it was not an easy one.
The PAY360 Awards 2026 shortlist is the result.
Best Payments Initiative in Open Banking
- Yaspa
- Lloyds Banking Group
- Truelayer Open Banking
- Ozone API
- Worldpay
- Genome
Best Consumer Payments Product
- Mastercard
- Paysafe
- Float Technologies
- Wirex
- Paynetics
- Copecto GmbH
Best Credit or Lending Product
- Digital Treasury Loan
- Multifi
- Payjoy
- Ledn
- 365 Finance
- Nexo
Best Initiative in Financial Inclusion and ESG
- Ripple
- Paymentology
- Thunes
- Money Carer
- Nationwide Building Society
- Al-Amal Microfinance Bank (AMB)
Best Loyalty or Customer Engagement
- Paynetics
- Engage People
- Lloyds Banking Group
- eToro
- Cardlytics
- Moorwand
Best Data Initiative in Open Banking or Open Finance
- TSB
- Yapily
- Yaspa
- Notabene
- 9Spokes
Disability Inclusion Award
- Adyen
- Nationwide
- HSBC
- Money Carer
Best Innovation in Mobile
- eSIM Travel
- Paynetics
- Burbank
- Deutsche Bank A.G.
- Mastercard
- MiFinity
Best Payments Initiative in Open Banking
- Hands In
- Token.io
- Akurateco
- Tigapo by Nayax
- G4S Cash Solutions (UK) Limited
- Dojo Intelligence
How the PAY360 Awards shortlist is decided
very entry was assessed by a panel of independent industry experts, chosen for their depth of knowledge across payments, fintech, banking, financial crime, technology and regulation.
This independence is what makes a place on The PAY360 Awards shortlist genuinely worth having. It is not a popularity contest, but a rigorous, expert assessment of what the payments industry is actually achieving and getting through it in the most competitive year on record is a serious achievement.
What this year’s record entries say about the payments industry
The volume of entries is not just a number, but a signal. Payments continues to attract talent, investment and innovation at pace, and the appetite to be recognised for that work has never been stronger. Nearly two decades in, the industry is still growing, still pushing boundaries and still showing up.
Our CEO Emma Banymandhub said:
“The PAY360 Awards have been recognising excellence in payments for nearly two decades, and this year’s record entry numbers are a real statement of intent from the industry. The shortlist is the most competitive we’ve ever seen, and that speaks to how much genuine innovation is happening across the ecosystem right now. We can’t wait to celebrate it in October.”
Congratulations to every company named in this shortlist.
Join us on the night
The winners of The PAY360 Awards 2026 will be announced on 7 October 2026 at Grosvenor House Hotel, 86-90 Park Lane, London, W1K 7TN, the most prestigious night in the UK payments calendar.
The ceremony brings together 950+ senior leaders from 300+ organisations across the payments value chain, with more than 50% at C-suite level, for eight hours of celebration, exceptional networking, fine dining and an after-party that has well and truly built its reputation.
As FIS Global put it: “The PAY360 Awards are the only awards to be seen at if you are in the fintech space”.
Whether you are on the shortlist, celebrating a team that is, or simply want to be in the room where the industry gathers, there is a place for you at the table.
Tables seat 10, and VIP and Platinum packages tend to go first, so the sooner you move, the better.
