Best bank: BKT
A standout year in 2025 saw BKT combine strong financial momentum with focused innovation across retail and corporate banking in Albania.
This was reflected in significant expansion of the bank’s balance sheet, with total assets reaching $6.7 billion in 2025, up 23% from 2024, while deposits rose to $5.5 billion, an increase of 20% year-on-year. This growth strengthened the bank’s lending capacity and funding base, translating into continued profitability, with $97.4 million in standalone earnings and a return on equity of 23.8%.
Growth was supported by a series of product enhancements in 2025. Consumer lending gained momentum through the expansion of the Super Loan product, where volumes grew by more than 50% during the year. The introduction of digital credit cards and the digitisation of loan applications reduced processing times and simplified access to credit, helping to streamline the customer journey from application to disbursement.
Digital progress was also evident in customer experience and payments. The rollout of digital onboarding and qualified electronic signatures enabled remote account opening and document execution, with around 3,000 cases completed during the year, reducing reliance on physical branches.
In corporate banking, enhancements to payments and trade finance drove increased usage of digital channels, with international transfers reaching $352 million, up 39% year-on-year.
Best bank for corporates: Raiffeisen Bank Albania
Raiffeisen Bank Albania delivered strong progress in 2025, combining balance sheet growth, digital execution and product development to improve outcomes for corporate clients.
The bank’s balance sheet expanded to €3.4 billion, up 9% year-on-year, while total revenues rose 3% to €165 million. Profit before tax reached €90 million, reflecting continued growth supported by investment in service and technology. Growth in the client base – up 8.59% to more than 528,000 customers – underpinned deeper engagement across the corporate ecosystem.
Digital capabilities were central to the bank’s corporate proposition in 2025. More than 95% of payments are now executed through mobile channels. The implementation of ISO 20022 standards enabled real-time tracking, reduced operational friction and lowered error rates, contributing to faster and more reliable execution for corporate users.
The rollout of SEPA Credit Transfer services, alongside automated IBAN validation, has further reduced rejected transactions and improved straight-through processing. The bank’s Raiffeisen ON platform enhanced treasury services through 24/7 availability and real-time processing, while also shifting the majority of foreign exchange transactions into digital channels.
Building on these developments, the introduction of the Integral Pricing Engine enabled real-time foreign exchange pricing, supporting stronger market-making capabilities and improved execution for clients.
At the same time, the bank expanded its ESG-linked financing activities, contributing to the growth of its green portfolio in 2025. Partnerships such as the EBRD Risk Sharing Framework have supported increased lending capacity, particularly for corporates undergoing transition.
Best digital bank: Raiffeisen Bank Albania
Raiffeisen Bank Albania strengthened its digital banking proposition in 2025 by expanding mobile-first services, embedding end-to-end digital journeys and delivering measurable progress in customer adoption, transaction volumes and digital revenues.
The bank’s Raiffeisen ON platform supported this strategy, reaching more than 340,000 users and engaging 50% of the total customer base in 2025, while over 95% of payments were executed digitally, significantly reducing processing times and operational costs.
The migration to cloud infrastructure enabled faster release cycles and greater system resilience, supporting continuous feature enhancements such as embedded digital signatures and real-time peer-to-peer payments.
Strong growth in digital distribution translated into tangible commercial impact, with digital customer acquisition exceeding 40% and digital sales accounting for 32% of personal loans and 38% of credit card applications in 2025. This reflects effective investment in digital onboarding and customer experience, supported by fully remote application and approval processes across lending, cards and investments.
In payments, first-to-market innovations such as Apple Pay and the expansion of RaiPay resulted in card payments increasing by more than 30% year-on-year, while digital wallet transaction volumes reached €8.6 million and tokenised cards totalled 50,000.
Digitalisation extended across business segments, with 56% of unsecured micro loans processed digitally and SME assets growing 20% year-on-year, supported by automated lending and enhanced payment functionality including SEPA integration and real-time IBAN validation, reducing errors and improving processing speed.
Continued investment in digital investment platforms and ecosystem integration enabled fully online portfolio management and contributed to an 8.6% increase in customers to 528,827, highlighting the role of digital capabilities in supporting the bank’s customer growth and engagement.
Best bank for ESG: Raiffeisen Bank Albania
Raiffeisen Bank Albania demonstrated strong and measurable execution of its ESG strategy in 2025, achieving significant environmental and social outcomes.
The bank translated its sustainability framework into clear commercial momentum, increasing the green share of its loan book while accelerating SME engagement, where ESG-compliant lending rose by 29% year-on-year. This growth was complemented by a targeted focus on inclusion, with 31% of these new loans directed to women in business initiatives.
A key differentiator was the bank’s ability to link strategy to real-economy outcomes, such as its exclusive role in delivering a government-backed programme offering 0% interest housing loans to essential workers. At the same time, its ESG and energy-efficiency campaign drove client uptake by clearly connecting sustainability investments with cost savings, supporting both customer engagement and measurable environmental impact.
Digital innovation played a central role in the bank’s strategy, with ESG functionality embedded within the Raiffeisen ON platform. This enables customers to monitor their environmental impact – such as tracking the carbon footprint of their transactions – while encouraging more sustainable behaviours and enhancing transparency.
Partnerships also played an important role in expanding the bank’s ESG capacity. Collaboration with the EBRD’s risk sharing framework unlocked additional financing for sustainable projects, while Raiffeisen Invest supported capital market development through the launch of Albania’s first sustainable fund, with gross sales reaching €169 million in 2025. These initiatives demonstrate the bank’s ability to mobilise capital and develop market infrastructure in support of ESG objectives.
Best bank for corporate responsibility: Credins Bank
Credins Bank delivered a strong performance in corporate responsibility in Albania in 2025, with demonstrable social impact, driven by increased investment, new digital platforms and targeted programmes that significantly improved outcomes for communities and businesses.
The bank showed strong execution of a clear CSR strategy, increasing total investment by 15% year-on-year in 2025 to more than ALL128 million ($1.6 million) and expanding beneficiaries by 17% to 2.3 million. Its activity base also widened, with 174 initiatives delivered, up from 151 in 2024, reflecting a deliberate scaling of programmes aligned to national development priorities and multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Innovation was evident in enhanced platforms and new launches. The SMILE.al crowdfunding platform expanded its impact by 34% year-on-year in 2025 to more than 600,000 users, supported by a 13% increase in funding, enabling projects such as air quality monitoring and solar installations in public institutions. This digital approach strengthened transparency and public participation, with contributor funding rising 38% compared with 2024.
Targeted programmes delivered tangible economic and social benefits. Public-sector partnerships increased investment by 22% and community reach by 12% to more than one million people, including healthcare projects linked to over 760,000 beneficiaries through improved hospital services. In addition, a new SME financing programme launched in 2025 provided preferential lending terms, supporting investment in technology and capacity, contributing to a 4% rise in total clients and double-digit growth in micro lending volumes.
Internal capability building supported implementation of the bank’s CSR strategy, with training hours rising 14% to 43,755 with 100% staff participation, while inclusive hiring increased female representation to 75.4%.
