Qorus announced the winners of the second edition of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – Asia Pacific (APAC) during a live ceremony in Bangkok.
These regional awards shine the spotlight on the best ideas and practices transforming the financial services industry in Asia Pacific. They are a spin-off of Qorus’s long-running Banking Innovation Awards and Innovation in Insurance Awards, which collectively attracted more than 600 entries in their 2024 editions. Applicants to both these programs can qualify for acknowledgment on a regional stage too.
"The spirit of innovation coming from the Asia-Pacific region is remarkable. I’m fortunate to travel frequently in the region and meet with bankers and insurers, and I admire their determination to embrace the latest technological innovations to solve the challenges they face – or those their clients encounter," remarks John Berry, CEO of Qorus.
Michael Grover, Regional Director for Asia-Pacific at Qorus, agrees: "The wide variety of countries represented among the 2025 award winners shows that the entire region is driving innovation, making this edition especially rewarding."
The winners of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – APAC 2025 are:
The winners of the Qorus Reinvention Awards – APAC 2025 are:
• OCBC (Singapore) – Qorus Innovator of the Year – APAC 2025
OCBC has been recognized for its bold approach to digital transformation and its impressive range of innovative products designed to meet customers’ evolving needs. The bank has enhanced collaboration among its 30,000+ employees across 19 countries and regions by developing a company-wide digital platform that leverages AI, blockchain and the Internet of Things to streamline workforce communications. It has also introduced products tailored for young people, teenagers, and the children of high-net-worth clients. Additionally, OCBC has entered a strategic marketing partnership with entertainment giant Disney to strengthen customer acquisition in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Runners-up (Silver and Bronze): Bank of Ayudhya - Krungsri Bank (Thailand) and Axis Bank (India).
• Golomt Bank (Mongolia) – Customer Experience Award for SocialPay Digital Wallet
Golomt Bank has enhanced its customer experience by developing a digital wallet that enables account holders to quickly access 26 applications, including payments, shopping, healthcare, insurance, transportation and stock trading. SocialPay and its companion product, SocialPay Junior, integrate AI, voice instruction, OCR, NFC and QR codes to streamline transactions. With SocialPay becoming Mongolia’s most downloaded wallet app, Golomt has already captured 20% of the country’s total market.
Runners-up (Silver and Bronze): Maybank (Malaysia) for Cross Border QR Pay and HSBC (Hong Kong SAR) for HSBC Gold Token.
• BRAC Bank (Bangladesh) – Distribution Award for Financial and Digital Inclusion
BRAC Bank, in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, is expanding financial services to women running small businesses in underserved rural communities. Through its digital lending platform, a network of locally recruited female agents and the multi-feature Astha mobile app – supported by funding and expertise from the US-based charity – the bank is providing access to financing, training and education to empower women entrepreneurs and help grow their businesses.
Runners-up (Silver and Bronze): Industrial Bank of Korea (South Korea) for i-ONE Bank and RCBC (Philippines) for RCBC DiskarTech.
• QBE (Australia) – Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Award for Premiums4Good
QBE Australia is driving positive environmental and social change by investing a portion of its customers’ premiums into impact investments supporting renewable energy, affordable housing and community services. The insurer expects its Premiums4Good initiative – offered to customers at no additional cost – to have invested US$2 billion in impact investment bonds, funds and similar instruments by the end of 2025.
Runners-up (Silver and Bronze): Taiwan Life (Taiwan) for Three-Generation Power Walk and Taipei Fubon Bank (Taiwan) for Owl Detect, All Detect.
• AIA (Thailand) – New Ways of Working Award for AIA One Platform
AIA Thailand has advanced its digital transformation with an integrated technology platform supporting its 50,000+ sales agents. The AIA One Platform has replaced 30 legacy applications, reducing the insurer’s annual operating costs by US$5 million. The platform includes an AI-powered lead management system, a sales tracker, a performance and incentives guide, and a sales campaign coordinator.
Runners-up (Silver and Bronze): Aflac (Japan) for Aflac Assist and BCA (Indonesia) for Robotic Precision for APOS Production.
• HDFC Bank (India) – Operational Excellence Award for Real-Time Machine Learning Fraud Engine
HDFC Bank has developed a real-time fraud detection system that uses machine learning and AI to quickly identify fraudulent ATM, POS and online card transactions. Processing six million transactions daily, the Real-Time Machine Learning Fraud Engine analyzes cardholder data, transaction patterns and channel attributes to generate real-time fraud likelihood scores, improving the bank’s fraud detection rate by 30%.
Runners-up (Silver and Bronze): DBS (Singapore) for CIT Optimization and Cash Management and Westpac (Australia) for SaferPay.
• CIMB (Malaysia) – SME Bank of the Year
CIMB supports nearly 500,000 SMEs across Malaysia with innovative products and services that restructure debt, expedite loan approvals, reward sustainable practices and equip business owners with essential skills. By closely working with clients affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the bank reduced the proportion of SME customers requiring repayment assistance from 42% to just 2%. During this period, CIMB also improved customer acquisition by 10% and increased SME loans on its balance sheet by 8%.
Runners-up (Silver and Bronze): Alliance Bank (Malaysia) and Commonwealth Bank (Australia). (Malaysia) and Commonwealth Bank (Australia), respectively.
“These awards are a driving force behind industry innovation, celebrating the most groundbreaking ideas and inspiring others to learn and evolve,” says John Berry, Qorus CEO. “With disruption accelerating at an unprecedented pace, no financial services player can afford to remain stagnant. I’m thrilled to see how markets like Asia-Pacific have risen to the challenge, embracing innovation with enthusiasm. And I look forward to celebrating with European innovators at the Qorus Reinvention Awards – Europe in May 2025!”
With the Innovation Radar, Qorus members gain access to in-depth presentations of all winning projects, both in text and video. Submit your innovatove projects for the next edition of our global & regional awards.
