Today we are announcing the winners of Celent Model Bank 2021 Awards. Our annual Model Bank program was launched 14 years ago and recognizes financial institutions for best practices of technology usage in different areas critical to success in banking.

With Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the globe throughout 2020, we feared banks would not participate in our annual Celent Model Bank awards, now in its 14th year. Instead, we received a near record number of nominations detailing courageous stories of customer advocacy, organizational pivots at breakneck speed and celebrations of jobs well-done. Innovation in banking didn’t slow during the pandemic, it accelerated!

We are delighted to announce Varo Bank as Celent Model Bank of the Year 2021 in recognition of its Reimagining banking for everyday Americans initiative. Varo Bank has delivered on the long-awaited promise of a de-novo bank built on streamlined technology to significantly reduce its cost base. In sole control of its banking strategy and technology execution, Varo partners as needed to offer an attractive and innovative set of products and services to many Americans who more traditional banks cannot serve profitability.

We are also excited to recognize the following 19 financial institutions and their initiatives with Model Bank 2021 awards:

Each winning initiative is described in a case study report available to download for Celent research clients by clicking on the respective links above. In addition, today we are also publishing Innovation in Banking 2021: A Snapshot through the Lens of Model Bank, which describes the program in more detail, and discusses not only the winners but broader industry trends we distill from the analysis of nearly 160 Model Bank nominations. This report is available to download for any registered visitors free of charge.

Congratulations to all Celent Model Bank 2021 award winners!