Best bank: Ardshinbank
Strong growth across lending, improved digital adoption and notable improvements in customer service set Ardshinbank’s performance apart in 2025.
The bank expanded its balance sheet, as lending growth translated directly into revenue, with loans increasing by 30.3%, supporting a 21.7% rise in operating income, while equity rose by 31.9%.
Investment in digital and distribution capabilities produced clear shifts in customer behaviour. Enhancements to mobile and internet banking, including new services such as telephone number-based transfers and fully digital insurance issuance, reduced reliance on branch servicing and increased transaction efficiency, contributing to a client base exceeding 580,000. This was reflected in business adoption trends, with use of the ArdshinBusiness mobile app increasing from 32% to 47% year-on-year.
In SME and corporate banking, product development was closely linked to growth outcomes. The launch of automated online lending and enhancements to the SME digital platform reduced approval times and simplified onboarding. Corporate and SME loans reached $2.25 billion in 2025, almost doubling since 2024, while client numbers reached 10,737 in 2025, marking growth of 24%. Digital tools enabling online ordering of POS terminals and business cards also supported merchant acquisition and increased transaction volumes.
Targeted investment in customer experience produced clear improvements in service delivery. Call centre upgrades reduced average wait times from 55 to 25 seconds and increased first-call resolution rates from 65% to 80% between 2024 and 2025, supporting higher customer retention and more efficient servicing.
Best digital bank for consumers: Converse Bank
Converse Bank’s investment in its digital proposition in 2025 drove higher adoption, faster onboarding and a greater share of retail activity through digital channels.
The bank strengthened its digital distribution through Converse Mobile and its C360 platform, enabling customers to access and manage more than 15 services within a single interface. This supported a 17% increase in monthly active users to 65,276 at the end of 2025, with approximately 70% to 80% of retail transactions executed through mobile devices.
Improvements to digital onboarding significantly enhanced both speed and accessibility. The average current account opening time was reduced from five minutes in 2024 to approximately 20 seconds in 2025 through biometric identification and integrated KYC processes, with more than 12,000 customers onboarded digitally during the period.
The expansion of digital product capabilities increased engagement and product uptake. The proportion of retail product sales initiated digitally rose from around 22% to over 31%, while digital deposit sales exceeded 54%, driven by the introduction of end-to-end mobile deposit origination and automated savings tools such as transaction roundups.
Digital lending capabilities were also extended through automated scoring and pre-approved mobile loans, reducing processing times and improving access to credit. This contributed to a 16% growth in retail loans from AMD196.6 billion ($539 million) at end-2024 to AMD228.4 billion at year-end 2025, while control was maintained through integrated verification and authentication processes.
Operational efficiency improved alongside these developments. Paperless processes enabled more than 100,000 documents to be signed electronically each month, reducing processing time and lowering costs, with estimated annual savings of around AMD166 million.
