Banks are finding new ways to deepen customer relationships, from Live Oak’s industry specialization and Stifel’s relationship-led venture banking to SoFi’s stablecoin settlement and Nubank’s push into banking infrastructure.
The common thread is owning a piece of the financial relationship that is hard to displace, whether through expertise, relationships, infrastructure, or regulated banking rails.
Tearsheet’s Big Bank Theory Awards celebrate the companies pushing banking beyond its traditional boundaries.
The 2026 winners, including Temenos, Citizens, Pathward, Octane and Huntington Bank, Parafin, PayJoy, CineFi, DailyPay, and Lumin Digital, are tackling some of banking’s biggest shifts across technology, infrastructure, payments, and access.
