As the last year has shown, banks have had little choice but to fully embrace the digital revolution. Today, consumers demand the utmost convenience - and they expect no less from their financial service provider. Financial institutions are, therefore, faced with the cloud's double-edged sword, and the accompanying security risks that come with it.

As banks wade through myriad challenges, some rise above the crowd, embracing digitalisation wholeheartedly and steaming ahead to give customers what they need and expect. We celebrate those in the World Finance Digital Banking Awards 2017.

The last year also saw considerable advances in banking security, including a greater adoption of iris recognition and biometric authentication. Small fintech firms, meanwhile, continue to find innovative ways to make spending, managing and investing money easier than ever. Though we saw their rise in 2016, throughout 2017 a growing number of traditional banks struck partnerships with some of the biggest tech firms out there.

But perhaps the biggest development we have seen over the past 12 months has been the rise in popularity of digital currencies. In fact, in 2017 we have witnessed cryptocurrencies enter the mainstream.

There has certainly been a lot of change over the past year, with many financial institutions demonstrating their willingness to evolve, innovate and partner up. That said, 2017 has also shown the game is becoming more competitive, and that new rivals may not just be limited to the small fintechs that banks have only just come to terms with.

As such changes continue to infiltrate the industry, forward thinking is more important than ever before. To those that rise up to such challenges and embrace the future, we commend them in the latest edition of the World Finance Digital Banking Awards.