The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been honoured as one of the world's 3 most innovative banks for 2025 by Global Finance magazine, marking its inaugural recognition in this category.

The recognition places RBI alongside global giants like HSBC and Standard Chartered in Global Finance’s annual innovation rankings. The selections were made by the editorial board of Global Finance with inputs from expert reporters across global markets.

This accolade is part of Global Finance’s twelfth annual Innovators Awards, which celebrate financial institutions and fintech companies that pioneer new paths and design novel tools in finance. A comprehensive report on The Innovators 2025 will be featured in the June.

The 2025 awards also listed Nubank, REGnosys, and Auquan among the most innovative financial technology companies globally. Regional awards named Taipei Fubon Bank (Asia-Pacific), Bank of America (North America), and Societe Generale (Western Europe) as innovation leaders in their respective geographies.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das last year received an "A+" rating for the second consecutive year in Global Finance's Central Banker Report Cards 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his congratulations, acknowledging Das's leadership in ensuring economic growth and stability

In 2024, Global Finance recognised Citibanamex, HSBC, ING, and Santander as the world's most innovative banks. Citibanamex enhanced its financial app with micro animations and personalised offers, and introduced the AI-powered 360 Smart Client Hub for personalised customer journeys. HSBC issued the first multicurrency digital bond and launched Project Ascend, a scalable nonpayment insurance offering for trade finance assets. ING developed a generative AI chatbot, marking Europe's first customer-facing pilot in this domain. Santander migrated its corporate and investment banking operations to Gravity, a cloud-based digital platform enabling parallel processing.