24 April 2025 – Mandarin Oriental Singapore
The Digital CX Awards 2025, hosted annually by The Digital Banker and currently in its eighth year, brought together the brightest minds and the most influential voices from the global banking and finance industry, for an evening of celebration and recognition. Held at the quintessentially elegant Mandarin Oriental by the Marina Bay in Singapore, this year’s awards ceremony raised a toast to some of the best innovations in digital customer experience across banking, fintech, wealth management and financial services.
Hosted by Angelique Teo and James Yang, the black-tie gala saw a very diverse audience of over 150 senior bankers, C-Suite executives and innovators from far-flung corners of the globe in attendance. Over the course of three hours and a scrumptious three-course meal with free-flowing drinks, the evening spotlighted institutions and individuals who adapted remarkably to the evolving technological landscapes to offer the best digital experiences and solutions for its customers.
Major award highlights
Standard Chartered Bank Singapore won the award for the World’s Best Retail Bank for Digital Customer Experience, being recognised for its seamless and intuitive delivery of services across digital channels.
The CX Professional of the Year award went to Inez Louzonis, a Managing Director in Merrill Wealth Management, where she serves as Head of Platforms and Capabilities. Under her leadership, the team has accelerated the delivery and adoption of impactful initiatives while also rolling out cutting-edge technologies aligned to the Modern Merrill strategy.
Global banking giant HSBC took home Best CX Business Model, commended for its global customer experience journey that enables its 87,000-strong staff to deliver an outstanding omnichannel experience to more than 40 million customers spanning 30 countries.
The Outstanding Digital Customer Experience award had several distinct categories under which financial institutions could send in their nominations. OCBC was honoured for the Cross Border Payments and General Insurance categories; Bank of America took home the award under the Mobile Banking category and BMO was recognised for its achievements under the Payments category.
Bank of the Philippine Islands was the recipient of several awards that night, notably winning Outstanding Digital CX for Financial Inclusion for a simple, flexible savings product introduced by its subsidiary, BPI Banko, which allows individuals to build up emergency savings funds, or set aside money for short-term goals, offering an interest rate of 5% per annum, thereby empowering customers to save for their future.
Bank of China (Hong Kong) won Best Use of Gen AI for Customer Experience, for developing ‘Frontline GPT’ which provides real-time conversational support for sales teams to facilitate more efficient customer interactions, redefining engagement standards in banking.
Insurance players made a strong showing by taking home multiple top honours at this year’s gala, highlighting their growing focus in bettering the digital customer experience. Zurich Life Insurance Malaysia took home five awards that evening, including one for Outstanding Digital CX – General Insurance (Malaysia). Manulife Philippines won the award for Outstanding Digital CX – Life Insurance, while FWD Group bagged two awards – Outstanding Digital CX Transformation in Insurance and Excellence in Customer Service Innovation – Insurance.
A night to remember
Beyond the awards, the gala featured a pre-event networking session, three-course dinner, and a live performance by San Nikki’s, an all-girl electric strong trio that has been playing together for the past two decades and going strong.
“I’m happy to be here, celebrating the achievement today,” said Michelle Ng, Operational Excellence Manager at Zurich Insurance Malaysia. “Thank you to The Digital Banker, having this opportunity for us to celebrate and encourage us towards better CX transformation.”
Gail Russell, Global Head of Customer Experience and Channels, HSBC, spoke about her experience attending the gala: “It’s so important to celebrate individuals and companies that are making such a great impact – whether that’s innovation, or in our case – sheer hard work.
“I think it’s really important to recognise all those efforts, and it’s also brilliant to connect with people and hear other inspiring stories. I’m so pleased to be here.”
As the global finance and banking sector navigates an increasingly complex and ever-evolving landscape, the Digital CX Awards 2025 underscored the importance of agility and adaptability in the face of multiple challenges, while raising a toast to banking excellence, resilience and forward-thinking.
