Celebrating Our Customers: Winners of the 2025 Best in Banking Awards

At Blend, everything starts and ends with our customers. When they succeed, it means more than launching a new product or hitting a business goal. It means families get access to credit faster, members enjoy simpler experiences, and communities gain stronger financial footing. That’s the kind of impact that makes our industry better.

The work we do together with these institutions isn’t easy. Modernizing inside large, regulated organizations takes persistence and vision. But when it happens, it sets a new standard for what banking can be: faster, simpler, and more transparent for everyone.

Introducing the Best in Banking Customer Awards

That’s why at Forum 2025 we introduced the first annual Best in Banking Customer Awards. These awards recognize leaders who are proving what’s possible when technology and determination come together—leaders who are not only transforming their own institutions, but also raising the bar for the entire financial services industry.

“Blend was founded on the idea of partnership. We don’t win unless you win. These awards are about honoring the customers who inspire us—and who inspire the industry—by showing what transformation really looks like in action.” 

Nima Ghamsari
Co-Founder & CEO of Blend

2025 Best in Banking Award Winners

Innovator of the Year
Stacy Holindrake, CrossCountry Mortgage

Stacy has consistently pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with Blend. Under her leadership, CrossCountry Mortgage has gone beyond adopting Blend’s full mortgage suite—she also raised her hand early to partner with us on piloting new AI initiatives that are reshaping digital lending. Stacy has been a driving force behind creative workflow configurations across a large, distributed organization, proving that innovation doesn’t have to come at the expense of scale. Her work has delivered measurable impact for both borrowers and loan officers, showing what’s possible when vision and execution align.

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Digital Transformation Champion
Wendy Haston, Wells Fargo

As Product Owner for Blend at Wells Fargo Home Lending, Wendy has led one of the most complex digital mortgage transformations in the industry. She has been relentless in ensuring that Blend is not just integrated into Wells Fargo’s lending process, but deeply embedded into how the bank serves its customers. Wendy champions best-in-class technology internally while challenging Blend to raise the bar alongside her. Over the past year, she has guided a robust roadmap that sets the stage for Wells Fargo to expand Blend’s capabilities into 2025 and 2026, positioning the bank as a leader in digital lending innovation.

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Strategic Growth Partner
Jonathan Draper, Navy Federal Credit Union

For more than seven years, Jonathan has been a steady partner in advancing Navy Federal’s digital lending transformation. He has driven a dependable cadence of monthly and quarterly delivery, ensuring continuous value creation for members. Beyond execution, Jonathan has played a key role in shaping Blend’s roadmap, bringing forward strategic initiatives like purchase affordability, enhanced reporting, and creative use of soft credit. His leadership has had a direct impact on member experience and operational efficiency, reflecting what a true long-term partnership can achieve.

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Best-in-Class Digital Experience
Wade Bundy, BMO

Wade has redefined what a seamless digital mortgage experience looks like. He spearheaded BMO’s efforts to expand remote online notarization (RON) from home equity into first-mortgage purchase transactions—an achievement few institutions have been able to replicate at scale. Wade brought together product, legal, compliance, and operations teams to overcome significant regulatory and operational hurdles, proving that transformation is possible without compromising trust. His leadership has not only raised the standard for BMO’s customers, but also set a new benchmark for the broader industry.

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Customer Centric Innovator
Joe Semrani and George Taylor, M&T Bank

Joe and George led M&T Bank to become the first financial institution to launch Blend with ICE Encompass Web, establishing a modern, end-to-end digital experience. Together, they guided their teams through a complex integration, providing real-time feedback that removed third-party dependencies and accelerated delivery of customer-first features. Their focus on customer advocacy extended beyond internal execution—Joe even shared lessons publicly with peers across the industry, underscoring M&T’s belief that putting customers at the center creates lasting impact. Their leadership embodies what it means to innovate with both purpose and perseverance.

Thank you

To every customer who shared ideas, shipped improvements, and took the leap to try something new this year—thank you. Your leadership is what makes this industry stronger.

The Best in Banking Awards are just one way to pause and recognize the progress happening inside your institutions. Together, we’re proving that modernization in financial services is possible, and that when it happens, it raises the bar for everyone.

We can’t wait to celebrate even more of these stories next year at Forum 2026 in Austin.