Entries will be accepted from companies and their users that have undertaken an initiative to reduce or counter-act their carbon footprint, between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024, to achieve net neutral impact on the environment, having committed to achieving Zero carbon emission standards. Judges will be looking for entries that show a deep-seated commitment to the environment as a core part of the business culture backed up with definable and clear actions that are targeted and measured.

Entries will be accepted from card brands, issuers, account providers, merchant acquirers, retailers and other payments companies for benefits and loyalty schemes or specific initiatives launched between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Judges will be looking for examples of new or different benefits packages or linked loyalty engagement programmes, that demonstrate how they have addressed customer needs and provided an attractive value proposition to specific customers to drive increased engagement / loyalty, improve sales and provide overall benefits to both customer and provider to encourage increased usage, purchase or repeat custom.

For acquirer entries, judges will want to see innovative merchant programmes that incentivise and reward either end customers. Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

Entries are invited for new payments initiatives that are in early market development or not yet brought to market between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

This category does not need to provide commercial success metrics but will be expected to provide clarity on how the initiative creates value for users or the payments industry in general.

This category is open to any technology, software or other enabler designed to augment or improve the payments process in any way.

Entries are accepted from any regulated provider using Open Banking to offer new or refreshed payment or associated services to their customers. The initiative could relate to any part of the payment process, including personal and business current accounts, credit cards and online e-money accounts or could be using the Open Banking Account Information Service to provide an enhanced service for provision of credit facilities.

Entries should refer to activity during the period 1 January 2023 to 31 August 2024. Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

This award is open to any technology, software, or other enabler offered or executed as a payment facility at the point of transaction or post transaction.

Entries will be expected to demonstrate how the payment facility has: enhanced consumer choice, reduced customer payment friction, lowered the fees of accepting and managing payments, or increased the speed of payment orchestration with added value services.

Entries will need to provide clear measurable data on how the payment facility provides value and benefits through the channel(s) in which they are provided (online, POS, mobile, in-transit, location specific etc.) and how the payment facility provides value. Submissions should detail specific achievements and initiatives that have been implemented or launched between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Entries should be submitted by the organisation that has the direct interface with the end payer or the retailer/merchant that is offering the programme.

The judges will make this award to the card brand / issuer or payments provider who can demonstrate creative thinking behind the design of its card or digital payments interface.

Qualifying designs will have been brought to market between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024. 

The design should stand out in the market and serve to enhance the relationship between customer and provider. Whether physical card or digital interface the judges will be looking for designs that are complimentary with the brand and can evidence that the design has performed well.

Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

• If you are submitting a card design, please send 6 physical samples in addition to a high resolution image.
• If you are submitting a digital payments interface please submit high resolution images.
  

This award will recognise companies who have leveraged and integrated existing technology in either an innovative or creative manner to deliver a solution related to payments.

Entries are encouraged from any organisation servicing or enabling the payments industry.

The qualifying period is 1 January 2023 to 31 August 2024.

Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user. 

This award is open to any qualifying entrant who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of socially inclusive treatment of customers.

Entries should demonstrate how the customer is at the heart of the organisation’s business activities and how the organisation is delivering consistently fair outcomes to all consumers, is proactive about remedying any shortcomings and how financial inclusion is integral to their business culture and ethos.

Entries may be in respect of a single significant project or programme, as well as those organisations who are seeking to cater to vulnerable consumers (demographically, financially or socio-economically).

The qualifying period is 1 January 2023 to 31 August 2024.

Entries are invited for any payments-related Customer Experience (CX) initiative that has been implemented or launched between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024. Entrants should consider how digitally enhanced CX has been applied to improve services, reduce or remove barriers or enhance the user experience for users within the payment’s ecosystem. The judges want to understand how the initiative has enhanced the end user experience, effectively differentiating the experience from others on the market. B2B and B2C CX initiatives and interfaces will be considered.

The judges will be looking for well-defined success metrics that demonstrate an improved user experience. Entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

Entries are invited for credit products (including credit & charge cards) and credit facilities (including BNPL and POS Finance) available to customers between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Submissions must be in respect of products that have been either launched or are existing products which have been refreshed and repromoted during the qualifying window. Judges will be looking for products that provide one or more of the following: a differentiated proposition, an attractive or compelling offer to the customer, show creative or innovative elements.

All entries must be able to demonstrate commercial success delivered during the reporting period. Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

Innovation in payments comes in many forms, the industry has a long-standing reputation to be innovative from design through to service enablement. Entries are invited from all industry participants that have developed and launched a product, service, technology, system, procedure, software or other enabler in payments in the period.

Judges will be looking for innovations that tackle an area of; payment friction, payment access, processing, and/or service support, or other complimentary areas.

The core criteria is that the innovation should be new and innovative (not having been done before or, a dramatic improvement over an existing option).

It will need to have been implemented or launched between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024, and have increased the organisation’s competitiveness & effectiveness and could be considered one of the firsts in the market. 

Entries are invited for a payments-related marketing campaign executed between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Within the context of an overall marketing strategy, Entrants should outline how their organisation has used an integrated campaign to improve market share, drive sales, enhance customer loyalty, drive customer engagement, target specific or new markets, etc.

Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

NB. While look and feel is important in this category, proof of success is critical. Include relevant metrics including ROI where possible. The judging panel will consider budget sizes and may offer a dual award for large budget vs small budget campaigns.

The Card and Payments Awards welcome entries for this exciting award which recognises a newcomer organisation that commenced operating no earlier than 36 months prior to 1 April 2024.

The organisation will be offering a payments related service or product which is delivering value and benefit to any aspect of the payments ecosystem. The organisation will be making an impact through performance, innovation, value to stakeholders etc. It will deliver an innovative solution to a specific set of problems or indeed it may be creating opportunity.

The judges will be interested to see that the organisation is performing well and gaining in traction with an initiative that promises longevity.

The organisation might evidence developed relationships, implementations, contracts and other indications of positive performance.

Open to card issuers, banking acquirers, retailers and other payment companies who will be expected to set out an innovative solution which has improved the security of customers’ transactions at any stage of the payment process or has protected the customer from internet, mobile or other card-not-present (CNP) fraud, identity theft, card interception etc.

Submissions for your fraud prevention or detection initiative should focus on activity between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

Entries are invited from all industry participants to demonstrate a project that has benefitted broader society.

The judges will be looking for a successful community or charitable project illustrating results achieved between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024, which has effectively delivered its corporate and social responsibility objectives and has made a material and sustainable difference to the community/ stakeholder groups it is serving.

Entries will be accepted from companies that can demonstrate an innovative use of Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning (AI/ML) to deliver either an improved experience or a new opportunity. The judges want to understand how AI/ML has been used, the changes that it enabled and the metrics that have been applied to measure success. The entry should demonstrate the use of AI/ML being used directly within the payments and associated processes.

Entries should cover applications that have been launched between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024. Entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.  

Entrants are invited from card issuers, their brands, merchant acquirers and other payments providers who can demonstrate a true understanding of their customers’ needs through the delivery of customer service excellence.

Entry submissions should detail specific achievements or initiatives between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024 that demonstrate measurable impact of an innovative customer care strategy on customer satisfaction and retention levels.

Entries must be associated with the payment product (as opposed to general banking services or in the case of merchant acquirers with their merchant customers. Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

The award will go to the best pre-paid card or debit card account available to consumers during the period 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Submissions should be in respect of programmes that have been launched or are existing programmes which have been refreshed and repromoted during the qualifying window.

Judges will be looking for products which offer best value to the customer. The winning product will clearly demonstrate that it meets the needs of its target customers, with particular focus on assessing the attributes or benefits, features and customer service.

The entry should also demonstrate evidence of usage and commercial success.

This award is open to any technology, facility or initiative offered or executed at point of sale (both hardware and software) and can provide evidence of an enhancement or improvement throughout the payments process to either the consumer or the business.

This can be in the physical or virtual environment. Submissions should detail specific achievements and initiatives that have been implemented or launched between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Entries should be submitted by the organisation that has the direct interface with the end payer or the retailer / merchant that is offering the programme.

Entries will be accepted in relation to any processing programme or proposition in any part of the payments value chain. This can be in the physical or virtual environment. Where relevant, submissions can be in conjunction with other payment providers or the merchant customer.

The entries must demonstrate that the implementation is effective and commercially viable. Entries may be in respect of a single significant project or programme, which does not have to be new during the reporting period.

Results must refer to activity between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Entries should be in the name of the organisation that has direct interface with the end user.

This award will go to the payments provider that can show how it has offered the best service focussed on the corporate customer (large or small).

Judges will be interested in creative and innovative elements of the service, including (but not limited to) how it can deliver value to users, ease of onboarding, customer authentication and also assist in managing costs and driving savings.

Results should reflect achievements during the period between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2024.

Please note that entries should be in the name of the organisation that has the direct interface with the end user.

This special award will be presented to an individual or team who has had an influential impact on the industry over the past 18 months up to August 2024.

The achievement is likely to have made a significant contribution to the advancement and success of any aspect of the card and payments industry.

Nominations are not open for this award and nominations will be made by the panel of judges only.