South Africa’s third largest bank, First National Bank (FNB), took top honours at this year’s BAI - Finacle Global Banking Innovation Awards, winning the “Most Innovative Bank of the Year” award at the event held in US city Washington, D.C last night.

A division of FirstRand Limited, FNB, was honoured with the award for its culture of innovation and advancement regarding retail banking.

4-traders.com reports that FNB was chosen among more than 150 entries from over 30 countries for breakthrough innovations that positively impact banks and their customers.

According to the report, an international judging panel made up of prominent industry thought-leaders, academics and retail banking professionals, and an objective third-party board made its selection of the winning financial services companies.

Other awards dished out during the night included OCBC Bank based in Singapore, which earned the “Product and Service Innovation Award”. The award for “Channel Innovation” went to DenizBank in Turkey, and Polish bank, Alior Bank, received the “Disruptive Innovation in Banking Award” for changing the banking services market in that country.

Debbie Bianucci, president and chief executive officer of BAI, congratulated the award winners for their creativity and excellence.

She said, "These banks serve as a model of what can be achieved through innovation when it comes to enhancing the customer experience and transforming our industry.”

The BAI awards programme has been running for two years recognises and supports innovation in the retail banking industry.