United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc is recognised as the 2025 Bank of the Year (Digital Banking), a testament to its evolution from a heritage financial institution into Africa’s most aggressive digital innovator.
With a lineage dating back to 1949, UBA has successfully harmonized its rich history with a futuristic outlook, leveraging technology to bridge the gap between local needs and global standards for its over 35 million customers across 20 African nations and major financial capitals including London, Paris, New York, and Dubai.
The Bank secures this honour for its relentless pursuit of technological excellence, epitomized by the revolutionary evolution of LEO, its award-winning AI-driven virtual banker.
UBA has redefined customer engagement by transforming LEO from a standard chatbot into a comprehensive Concierge Banker with advanced Natural Language Processing capabilities. Now operating as an omni-channel solution across WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Apple Business Chat, LEO has effectively democratized banking, allowing users to open accounts, request loans, and dispute transactions instantly within their favourite social media interfaces.
Beyond retail convenience, UBA is celebrated as the digital engine room of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Leveraging its unrivaled continental footprint, the Bank has emerged as a primary facilitator for the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). By providing the digital rails that allow businesses to transact in local currencies while ensuring instant settlements, UBA has drastically reduced transaction costs and eliminated the dollar dependency delay for cross-border merchants, effectively paving the way for a unified African economy.
This digital dominance is anchored on the Bank’s core values of Enterprise, Excellence, and Execution.
Under the visionary leadership of Group Chairman Tony Elumelu, CFR, and the operational command of GMD/CEO Oliver Alawuba, UBA has proven that a bank can possess both brick-and-mortar reliability and unmatched digital agility.
For successfully migrating over 30 million users onto digital platforms and serving as the technological backbone of African trade, UBA is the undisputed leader in digital banking.
