New York, NY and London, UK — Tuesday, April 15, 2025 — American Banker, the leading information resource serving the banking and financial services community, today announced a partnership with NayaOne to host the 2025 Digital Banking Demo Challenge at American Banker’s Digital Banking Conference, June 1–4, 2025, in Boca Raton, Florida. The partnership is a result of both organisations’ commitment to accelerate technology adoption in financial services, with the Demo Challenge serving as the first initiative in this collaboration.
As the exclusive host and partner of the 2025 Demo Challenge, NayaOne will help bring together a cross-section of the banking innovation ecosystem—emerging fintechs, established financial institutions, and technology leaders—into a single environment for live product evaluation. The Demo Challenge provides an industry-first opportunity for financial institutions to leverage NayaOne’s platform to perform hands-on vendor evaluation on all Demo companies.
“This is about creating a space where real conversations and real evaluations can happen,“ said Jeff Mancini, CEO of Arizent, parent company to American Banker
“We’re giving banks and credit unions direct access to tested, validated solutions—and giving fintechs a way to prove they can deliver value in the environments that matter. The Demo Challenge is designed to cut through the noise and speed up meaningful decision-making between both sides of the market.”
This groundbreaking collaboration and competition format provides an opportunity for banks to discover new technologies—bringing transparency, speed, and real-world testing into the vendor evaluation process. By connecting fintech builders with banking decision-makers in a shared, hands-on environment, the Demo Challenge highlights the need for a more efficient, inclusive, and insight-driven approach to innovation adoption through vendor delivery.
“This partnership is about outcomes, ” said Karan Jain, CEO of NayaOne
“We’re enabling banks to see innovation in action, and fintechs to validate their technology in a realistic environment with real-time feedback. It’s a game-changer for how the industry collaborates on modernisation.”
Partnerships between fintechs and financial institutions are more important than ever. According to recent research from American Banker, 82% of banks plan to increase their tech spend in 2025, signalling the need for faster, smarter ways to identify and validate the right partners.
The Demo Challenge will feature live judging by a panel of experts curated by both NayaOne and American Banker, and culminates in an on-stage award ceremony. The winning fintech will receive a $10,000 sponsorship credit from American Banker and access to NayaOne Platform resources.
NayaOne will also promote those participating in the Demo Challenge to its extensive fintech and financial institution networks, including post-event sharing of recorded demos and sandbox access via the Compass Marketplace. All conference attendees will receive complimentary access to the Compass platform to continue exploring solutions beyond the event.
To learn more about American Banker’s Digital Banking Conference, apply to demo, become a sponsor, or attend; visit the website here: https://digital-banking.americanbanker.com/
American Banker is the essential resource for senior executives in banking and financial services, keeping its members updated on vital developments and focusing sharply on their most important concerns — innovation, transformation and disruption; technology, regulation and reform. Financial industry professionals turn to American Banker every day and throughout the day to stay informed — drilling down on complex issues, keeping up with breaking news and downloading research and data.
Arizent is a business information company that advances professional communities by providing insights and analysis and convening industry leaders. The company uses deep industry expertise and a data-driven platform to deliver its services, which include subscriptions, marketing services, live events, and access to Leaders, a digital content platform featuring livestream and on-demand formats. Arizent connects business communities through leading financial services brands like American Banker, The Bond Buyer, Financial Planning, and National Mortgage News, as well as professional services brands like Accounting Today, Employee Benefit News, and Digital Insurance. For more information, visit www.arizent.com.
