United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has been named the winner of the African segment at the 2026 Banker Technology Awards, a recognition tied to its push to embed technology across payments, digital commerce and compliance systems, including the use of artificial intelligence to improve cross-border banking in more than 20 African markets.
Award highlights and technology focus
The Banker Technology Awards drew nearly 200 entries this year across 17 regional and product groupings. The slate of winners pointed to a broader industry trend: financial institutions are increasingly treating technology as core infrastructure rather than a bolt-on feature, with investments spanning payment rails, regulatory and risk functions, lending workflows and customer-facing engagement.
In its evaluation of UBA’s submission, the awards body said the bank has strengthened its position as a digital operator by placing technology at the heart of its expansion strategy across more than 20 countries. It singled out UBA’s work on international money transfers, describing a combination of digital payments, AI-enabled customer interaction and e-business capabilities.
Central to the recognition is UBA’s integration of Leo, its AI-powered chatbot, with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). The goal is to let customers move funds across borders using local currencies through a conversational interface, aiming to make cross-border transfers simpler for users without requiring them to change the way they communicate with the bank.
Emmanuel Lamptey, Executive Director Designate for Digital Banking, collected the award on the bank’s behalf and underlined UBA’s ambition to digitise banking across the continent.
“Africa’s financial future will not be built on branches or borders. It will be built on intelligence, interoperability, and trust at scale,” Lamptey said.
He added that the bank’s investment in Leo responds to the long-standing cost and operational friction associated with international transfers in Africa. “Across a continent where cross-border transfers have historically been slow and costly, Leo reduces friction at the point of transaction, removing reliance on traditional banking channels without requiring customers to change how they communicate,” Lamptey said.
RedApp relaunch and broader digital push
Alongside the award, UBA relaunched its RedApp mobile banking platform after a comprehensive upgrade. The redesigned application is intended to provide a quicker, more intuitive digital banking experience for customers across the bank’s markets.
UBA’s Group Head for Brand, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Alero Ladipo, said the updated RedApp represents a new stage in how the bank delivers services digitally.
“At UBA, we are constantly raising the bar on what digital banking should feel like. The new RedApp is faster, cleaner, and built around how our customers actually live and bank. Whether you are managing your finances, making transfers, or accessing new features, the experience is now sharper than ever,” Ladipo said. “We invite all our customers to download the upgraded app today on the Google Play Store for Android and the Apple App Store for iPhone.”
The upgraded RedApp is available for download at https://on.ubagroup.com/redapp.
Scale of UBA’s operations
UBA is among the largest employers in Africa’s financial sector, with 25,000 staff across the group, and serves more than 45 million customers worldwide. The bank operates in 20 African countries as well as in the United Kingdom, the United States, France and the United Arab Emirates, offering retail, commercial and institutional banking services while pursuing financial inclusion and deploying advanced technology.
