NEACH Announces Winners of the 2026 NEACH Excellence Awards

Annual awards recognize the organizations and individuals driving progress in payments – Fincom, UniBank, Cambridge Savings Bank, and Justin Wyman, AAP of Northeast Bank

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The New England Automated Clearing House (NEACH) today announced the winners of its annual NEACH Excellence Awards, recognizing outstanding organizations and individuals advancing the payments ecosystem through leadership, innovation, operational excellence, and community impact. Exclusively run by NEACH, the awards are among the region’s highest distinctions, honoring those shaping the future of financial services.

This year’s award recipients include:

• Big Ideas in Innovation Award
  The Big Ideas in Innovation Award recognizes organizations transforming the financial industry through innovation, efficiency, and security. This year’s recipient is Fincom, recognized for its patented Phonetic Fingerprint technology, which significantly enhances sanctions, AML, and counter‑terrorist financing screening accuracy across global payment rails. The solution addresses one of the most persistent challenges in payments, accurate name matching across languages, while reducing false positives, accelerating alert resolution, and enabling real‑time transaction screening with full audit traceability for regulatory review.

• President’s Award
  The President’s Award recognizes an organization that has made significant achievements in the innovation, development, implementation, or advancement of electronic payments for the benefit of the industry. This year’s award goes to UniBank for its leadership in electronic payments innovation, particularly through the continued development and expansion of its UniPay® electronic payments platform. Designed to meet the needs of public sector customers, UniPay has helped municipalities modernize payment collection, improve operational efficiency, enhance security, and deliver reliable, user‑friendly digital payment experiences at scale. UniBank’s long‑standing commitment to modernizing payments while delivering value to customers and communities exemplifies the spirit of this award.

• Community Impact Award
  The Community Impact Award honors a company making a significant contribution to its community through time, actions, talents, and resources. Cambridge Savings Bank was recognized for embedding community investment into its operating model. Through charitable giving, employee volunteerism, financial education initiatives, and long‑term nonprofit partnerships, the Bank demonstrates how strong community banking fuels local economies, supports families and businesses, and creates lasting regional stability.

• Rising Star Award
  The Rising Star Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in innovation, excellence, implementation, or promotion of electronic payments. This year, Justin Wyman, AAP, Senior Cash Management Specialist, Northeast Bank, was honored for his pivotal role in strengthening the Bank’s payments operations, including deep expertise in Nacha Operating Rules, process documentation, third‑party implementations, and team education. His leadership helped modernize legacy practices, establish a strong payments foundation, and foster a culture of accountability, accuracy, and continuous improvement.

“These awards celebrate more than innovation—they honor leadership with purpose,” said Sean Carter, AAP, AFPP, APRP, President and CEO of NEACH. “This year’s honorees are advancing payments in ways that strengthen institutions, protect communities, and move our industry forward. NEACH is proud to recognize their impact.”

This year’s honorees were recognized during a special awards ceremony on May 18 as part of NEACH’s annual Payments Management Conference. For more information on the winners, or to explore other education opportunities, visit neach.org.

About NEACH
The New England Automated Clearing House (NEACH) is a non-profit association that helps members originate and receive ACH transactions, and provides products, services, education, and marketing to increase the acceptance, use, and quality of electronic transactions. For more information or to join NEACH, visit neach.org.