Zenus Bank Wins 2026 Celent Model Risk Manager Award for Operational Resilience

Zenus Bank recognized for embedding real-time compliance and fraud controls directly into its global infrastructure, enabling secure financial services in over 180 countries. 

San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 11, 2026 — Zenus Bank, the first U.S. bank to provide embedded banking infrastructure in over 180 countries, has been named the recipient of the 2026 Celent Model Risk Manager Award for Operational Resilience. Presented by Celent, a global research and advisory firm for the financial services industry, at Innovation & Insight Day 2026 (I&I Day), the award recognizes financial institutions that demonstrates exceptional innovation in risk management and operational resilience.

Celent recognized Zenus for embedding compliance and fraud controls directly into its banking infrastructure, creating a unified operational framework that supports global scale while maintaining rigorous regulatory oversight.

"Receiving this recognition from Celent reinforces our belief that compliance should be an integral part of the banking experience, not an obstacle of it" said Gabriel Viera, Chief Compliance Officer at Zenus Bank. "By embedding compliance and risk management into our core infrastructure, we enable financial institutions around the world to access U.S. banking services efficiently while operating within a strong and transparent controls framework."

Building a New Model for Global Banking Infrastructure 

In 2024, Zenus transformed from a direct-to-consumer digital bank into an infrastructure bank: a B2B2C platform providing USD accounts, cross-border payments, and Visa card issuance to fintechs, electronic money institutions (EMIs), money services businesses (MSBs), broker-dealers, and financial institutions. 

At the core of the platform is a proprietary orchestration layer and risk engine that unifies core banking, third-party due diligence, transaction monitoring, identity verification, sanctions screening, and blockchain analytics into a single, real-time control environment. 

"Zenus was created to make cross-border banking more accessible without compromising compliance."— Viera added. "As we scaled our infrastructure platform globally, we saw an opportunity to eliminate the traditional trade-off between customer experience and regulatory oversight. By embedding compliance directly into the banking stack, we enable financial institutions to scale globally within a robust control framework." 

Key Results 

Since launching its infrastructure banking model, Zenus has achieved: 

• $75 billion annualized payment volume run rate within its first year 

• Access to embedded U.S. accounts in over 180 countries 

• A network of over 1,300 financial institutions and partners  

• Partner onboarding reduced from months to less than one week  

• More than 6,000 compliance investigations conducted each month  

• Approximately $2 million in client fraud losses recovered 

The platform delivers interoperable, real-time monitoring across ACH, Fedwire, SWIFT, card, and digital asset payment rails, enabling unified detection, investigation, and reporting of suspicious activity across diverse payment ecosystems and transaction channels.

Looking Ahead 

Zenus continues to expand its global banking infrastructure through investments in artificial intelligence, automated compliance workflows, advanced fraud detection, and white-label banking capabilities designed for financial institutions serving customers worldwide. 

As the demand for secure cross-border financial services continues to grow, Zenus remains committed to helping financial institutions expand globally through a scalable, compliant, and technology- driven banking infrastructure platform. 

Read the Full Celent Case Study here.