Looking to get ahead of the new year?
We invite you to share your story of banking innovation from the past year or two, because we'd be thrilled to recognize your institution as a 2026 Celent Model Bank, our most prestigious award. As analysts, we get excited this time of year to learn about so much innovation all at once, and I hope you'll be a part of that.
December is a great time to submit a Model Bank Award nomination with Celent. This month, you'll have a rare opportunity to reflect back on recent accomplishments. How have you helped change your bank, or deliver for your customers in an exciting new way? Has new technology started to reshape your organization or open new markets? has 2025 been a year of change, through addition or subtraction, and how has that helped your institution emerge stronger and better able to help customers than before? We'd love to hear about it!
We’ll be closing our nomination window on January 30th, 2026. Please take an hour or so to submit your nomination here, (before things get hectic again in January!). There’s no cost, and your submission is 100% confidential. If we do recognize your initiative with an award, however, we’ll work with you in February and March to draft a case study detailing your success. You’ll have the opportunity to review and approve everything before it's ever published or announced publicly.
What makes a good model award nomination?
First and foremost, winners describe strong initiatives that deliver significant and specific business benefits; display a high degree of innovation; and show excellence in technology and/or implementation. Most importantly, you’ll want to clearly and succinctly describe your story. The best submissions, in fact, form a solid foundation for writing our case studies.
You can submit your nominations here until January 30th: https://www.celent.com/en/awards/model-bank
If you need a reminder of what the Model Bank Award is all about…
You can learn more about the program, including abstracts for each of this past year’s winning institutions, and view the keynote session from our 2025 Innovation & Insight Day, at the link above and at these links:
- Downloadable document: Becoming a Celent Model Bank, A Guide to Winning: 2026 Edition
- Article: Last year’s (2025) Model Bank Awards (with links to case studies)
- Video: Celent's 2025 Innovation & Insight Day Plenary Session
Best of luck to all of you as you close out 2025 and begin the new year. We look forward to supporting your technology advisory needs and hearing your inspiring stories of innovation!
