Pathward, a subsidiary of Pathward Financial, was named Partner Bank of the Year as part of The Big Bank Theory Awards 2026, presented by Tearsheet, the company announced. The awards program recognizes innovation in banking and embedded finance. The Partner Bank of the Year award recognizes the best partner bank behind digital bank offerings.
The recognition highlighted Pathward’s capabilities across issuing, acquiring, digital payments and tax solutions, along with its consultative approach to risk and compliance and breadth of knowledge and expertise from decades of payments and money movement experience.
“Pathward’s combination of deep industry expertise, broad capabilities to support our partners’ needs, and forward-thinking compliance program gives us a unique advantage that our partners can count on,” Will Sowell, Pathward’s chief customer officer, said. “We are honored to receive the Partner Bank of the Year award from Tearsheet. This recognition reflects our team’s commitment to our partners and their customers, and we appreciate the trust our partners place in us to help bring their innovations to market.”
Pathward provides payments sponsorship and lending to support partners as they launch and grow. Its payments sponsorship solutions include issuing, acquiring, digital payments and tax solutions, and its lending capabilities include commercial finance and credit sponsorship solutions.
See details about the awards and the full list of 2026 winners here.
