The Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) has announced the finalists for its 2024 Fintech Excellence Awards, organised in partnership with the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) and supported by PwC Singapore.
These awards highlight companies and individuals whose fintech initiatives have contributed to advancing financial technology, promoting financial inclusion, and improving service delivery.
This year’s awards categories were updated to emphasize measurable impact, with a focus on contributions to areas like financial inclusion and regulatory compliance.
A new category was introduced to recognise progress in artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
Over 200 submissions were received across six categories, with 175 entries in the corporate categories and 29 in the individual Fintech Mentor Award category. Four finalists were shortlisted in each category.
Finalists in the corporate categories were evaluated based on impact, sustainability, practicality, interoperability, and creativity, while individual submissions were assessed on contributions to the Singapore fintech sector.
Eight award winners will be selected by an international panel of industry experts, with announcements during SFF 2024.
This year’s awards are also supported by 12 fintech community members, including Ripple, NETS, ADVANCE.AI, and HSBC, as part of the ‘Fintech Gives Back’ initiative, aimed at encouraging innovation and supporting emerging talent.
Ripple, NETS, Syfe, and YouTrip returned as sponsors this year.
Here are the finalists for the SFF 2024 awards:
Category #1 Corporates – Emerging Fintech Finalists
Fluid Financial Pte Ltd
Fluid is a Singapore-based B2B Buy Now Pay Later solution, helping suppliers (both traditional and marketplace platforms) to finance buyers’ purchases at the point of checkout.
The company replaces traditional B2B payment methods (e.g. invoice factoring), which have outdated and cumbersome processes.
Fluid seamlessly connects to suppliers’ ERP and accounting systems and enables instant underwriting of B2B payments, offering a win-win as buyers get better payment terms while suppliers unlock cash flow that is stuck in account receivables
Payouts.com
Payouts.com offers a comprehensive solution for global B2B transactions, combining mass payouts, full automation, and Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) in one powerful platform.
Their system seamlessly integrates with clients’ existing infrastructure to automate the entire payout process, from invoice generation to payment execution.
The platform’s full automation leverages real-time data synchronisation and a unique connector structure, eliminating manual processes and reducing errors.
Their advanced self-invoicing system generates accurate, compliant invoices automatically, streamlining financial operations across multiple departments and entities.
Integrated VRM features transform vendor interactions, offering comprehensive tools for onboarding, communication, and performance tracking.
This holistic approach not only simplifies payments but also fosters stronger, more transparent vendor relationships.
ThitsaWorks Pte. Ltd.
Thitsa Payment Portal is a web-based platform integrated with Mojaloop. It enables financial institutions, especially those without core banking systems or with systems lacking API integration, to manage bulk transactions.
Initially designed for Microfinance Institutions to handle digital bulk loan repayments and disbursements, the portal is now being enhanced for broader use cases.
Walee Financial Services
Hakeem is a cutting-edge digital financing app designed to facilitate seamless B2C financing in Pakistan.
Initially offering conventional loans, Hakeem is now introducing its Tawarruq Islamic financing product, enabling Shariah-compliant loans for its users.
Powered by a robust credit scoring system, Hakeem analyses a wide range of data points to assess personal and financial attributes, providing loan approvals or rejections within minutes.
The app features a quick and efficient 7-step digital KYC process, minimising default rates by thoroughly analysing customer credibility.
Hakeem’s in-house developed loan management system offers detailed analytics and insights into customer behaviour, ensuring effective loan recovery.
Integrated with bank accounts and digital wallets in Pakistan, Hakeem provides customers with easy disbursement options.
Category #2 Corporates – Financial Inclusivity Finalists
ANEXT Bank Pte Ltd
The ANEXT Programme for Industry Specialists (“APIs”) is ANEXT Bank’s key embedded finance initiative designed for digital platforms to easily offer tried and trusted financial services to businesses operating on their platforms.
The APIs has not only helped platform partners unlock new revenue opportunities, more importantly, it has allowed ANEXT Bank to engage and enable the ecosystem of partners to accelerate and scale financial inclusion for unserved and underserved MSMEs.
Since the launch in November 2022, the APIs has partnered with a total of six digital platforms, availing financial services to over one million MSMEs in seven markets across procurement, supply chain, delivery, fintech, payment services and e-commerce sectors.
This allows MSMEs to gain one-stop access to a comprehensive suite of banking services, while enjoying the convenience of a consolidated view on their business such as wallet balance, loan amount and repayment status, etc.
IME Digital Solution Ltd (IME Pay)
IME Pay’s initiative, Access4All, actively bridges the financial divide in Nepal. This comprehensive suite of digital solutions targets the unbanked and underbanked populations, providing vital access to previously unreachable financial services.
The solution includes collateral-free loans for migrant workers, seamless integration with InDrive for vehicle financing, affordable health insurance packages, refundable airline ticketing, and a pioneering all-women Digital Ambassador programme to promote financial literacy.
LendMN
Flexi Business Loan by LendMN is Mongolia’s first and only 100% fully digital, collateral-free business financing solution, revolutionising the traditional lending process for micro and small enterprises.
To date, the solution has disbursed $16.5 million in loans. Each day, approximately 500 micro and small business owners use their app to apply/request for a business loan.
Notably, 65% of their customers are female business owners, and 18% of the businesses they serve are located in remote rural areas.
PolicyStreet
PolicyStreet specialises in pioneering Insurtech solutions, focusing on embedded insurance and digital platforms to bridge the protection gap for underserved communities.
They seamlessly integrate insurance into daily life, enhancing customer experience and streamlining operations through technology.
Their initiatives include but are not limited to embedded gig workers’ protection, embedded personal accident coverages with unemployment features, and Damage Protection Plans, supported by proprietary tech platforms that simplify purchasing and claims processes with data analytics for tailored solutions.
To date, they have insured over 200,000 gig workers with approximately RM20 billion in sum insured, directly and indirectly served over 1,500 SMEs, insured over 10 million online purchases, and protected over 10,000 Malaysians against personal accidents and retrenchments.
Category #3 Corporates – Regulatory Leader Finalists
Automa8e Technologies Pte. Ltd.
Automa8e is brand name for a suite of cloud-based AI powered business transaction and accounting software, essentially to produce company accounts, reports and tax to meet the requirements of management as well as for regulatory compliance submissions to authorities. Automa8e is an IRAS ASR+ Tier 3 licensed software.
Elven Group Pte. Ltd.
Elven is a crypto accounting software that helps integrate various data sources into a single accounting platform which also includes automations of tedious transactions tracking if done without a software like this.
Napier AI
Napier AI is a RegTech delivering anti-money laundering and financial crime compliance software to financial institutions, payments and wealth and asset management firms.
Napier AI designs and engineers technological innovation to make a measurable difference in driving down financial crime.
Napier AI Continuum is an AI driven financial crime prevention platform to connect data, control operations and manage risk in a single, fully integrated financial crime risk management centre.
By unifying risk monitoring applications, tools, and data into one environment, Napier AI Continuum builds a holistic view of risk while improving operational efficiencies and delivering greater levels of Return on Investment and reduced Total Cost of Ownership.
Built fully cloudnative, and whether deployed via fully managed SaaS, public cloud, on-premise private cloud, air gapped or hybrid model, Napier AI Continuum’s modular approach empowers clients to configure their compliance systems according to their specific requirements.
Symphony
Symphony is a fully open, scalable, secure collaboration platform purpose-built for financial markets.
In addition to connecting with over half a million verified professionals on Symphony, users of their federated messaging solution can extend connectivity to their clients on WhatsApp, WeChat, SMS and LINE – without sacrificing compliance.
In the age of mobile communication, this enables users to securely and conveniently communicate via clients’ preferred platforms while reducing the risk of regulatory missteps.
Category #4 Corporates – Sustainable Innovator Finalists
Axe Finance
Axe Credit Portal (ACP) is a cutting-edge AI-driven solution designed to revolutionise the digital lending landscape.
Developed by Axe Finance, ACP offers an end-to-end solution that automates the entire credit lifecycle from KYC and loan origination to servicing including origination, credit scoring, and automatic decision-making.
With its omnichannel capabilities, ACP ensures a seamless and competitive financing journey across all client segments not only limited to retail, commercial, corporate, financial institutions and sovereigns but also other specific types of lending such as green loans, microfinance, embedded financing, and Islamic finance.
Key features of ACP include ESG Integration in digital lending, AI-powered digital lending, etc. By leveraging advanced technology and a user-centric design, ACP enhances lending performance by improving accuracy, reducing risks, and accelerating time-to-market.
Kenergy Plus Company Limited
WATT’S UP application is an end-to-end EV bike rental digital platform focused on promoting and supporting
the adoption of electric motorcycles (EV bikes) in Thailand.
Developed by one of KASIKORNBANK subsidiary companies to facilitate the transition towards cleaner and more sustainable transportation, WATT’S UP aims to be a comprehensive solution for both consumers and businesses.
Quadient
Quadient’s enterprise Customer Communication Management solution, Inspire Flex, has transformed the customer experience of thousands of companies around the world.
They enable rapid response to market changes and speed digital transformation by empowering non-technical business users to safely design, manage, and deliver personalised, compliant content across all channels.
It all happens from one easy-to-use platform that eliminates siloed workflows and reduces the need for IT
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)
RCBC’s commitment to enhancing digital financial access for every Filipino evolved over time, adapting to shifting Philippine and global landscapes.
The bank accelerated its digitalisation efforts in 2020 with the launch of RCBC Diskartech, the world’s first multilingual financial inclusion app, and the expansion of RCBC ATM Go, providing crucial aid to underserved areas during the global health crisis.
RCBC also launched RCBC Barangayan (village/community) Banking, blending human touch with digital finance to reach underserved communities.
RCBC Diskartech is a multilingual financial inclusion application, available in Taglish (Tagalog-English) and Cebuano.
Its inclusive features and streamlined onboarding process (requiring only one ID, no minimum deposit, and zero maintaining balance) contributed to its unprecedented growth during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Category #5 Corporates – Thematic (AI, Quantum Champion) Finalists
Tencent
Tencent’s Palm Recognition Solution, launched in China in May 2023 is a contactless biometric solution that scans users’ palms as a means to identify the user.
This is done primarily for the purposes of authorising payment, granting access to certain locations, etc.
By hovering their hand over compact, Tencent-developed sensors, it verifies users’ unique palm prints and vein patterns, which are unique enough to even tell identical twins apart.
The solution offers a financial payment-grade algorithm for palm recognition, and presents significant potential across retail, financial services, public transportation, and physical security applications.
To-date, Tencent’s palm recognition solution has successfully processed millions of transactions daily, demonstrating its efficacy and transformative impact in biometric payment systems.
Ant International
Ant Risk’s Antom Card Payment Protection solution is designed to provide merchants with real-time risk control decision-making capabilities for card payments to minimise merchants’ fraud chargeback liability.
According to the agreement with the merchant’s ris preference, card fraud risk scanning is conducted for each transaction, according to the experience of risk experts, strong strategy system, cutting-edge AI algorithm and global data network to make decision of each transaction to realise 100% real-time risk decisions.
Should a decision lead to a subsequent fraud chargeback, they provide merchants with an intelligent dispute service powered by large language models. They can download and submit AI-created chargeback defense materials to reclaim losses from chargebacks.
This solution enhances the accuracy and speed of decision-making, leading to more effective fraud prevention and lowering of false negatives, enhancin overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.
JPMorganChase
The firm validated Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology in a Data Centre environment using existing fibre infrastructure with end-to-end IPsec encryption of actual IP data in an air-gapped environment.
This served as the first step towards integrating QKD technology into different security protocols (e.g. OTNsec, MACsec, IPsec, HSE) from different vendors outside the lab environment. The solution would be usable for everyone utilising the Data Centre infrastructure.
Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC)
This solution enables the secure distribution of encryption keys between geographically dispersed communicating parties using quantum principles.
QKD ensures that the keys are distributed securely and remains so against any computational power, including that of an eavesdropper with unlimited resources, thereby protecting against any potential eavesdropping or tampering attempts.
By incorporating QKD at layer 3 of IPsec, the overall security of the IPsec framework is significantly enhanced, providing a robust and unbreakable encryption mechanism for secure communication.
Category #6 Individual – Fintech Mentor Finalists
Andrea Baronchelli, CEO and Cofounder, Aspire
Andrea Baronchelli is the CEO and Co-founder of Aspire. Through Endeavor, he mentors the next generation of founders by sharing his experiences and offering guidance to those facing similar hurdles.
His role as a mentor has allowed him to directly support fellow entrepreneurs, helping them navigate challenges and achieve their goals.
Under Andrea’s guidance, 20+ startups over the past 3 years hav gotten qualitative feedback to improve their Y Combinator applications.
His mentorship has helped founders refine their pitches, develop stronger business models, and gain confidence in their startup journey.
Andrea is also a prominent participant in fintech events, frequently sharing his expertise and insights, and plays a pivotal role in engaging with regulators to shape a balanced regulatory environment that fosters innovation and security
Dr Dorian Selz, CEO, Squirro
Dr Dorian Selz is the Founder and CEO of Squirro AG. He exemplifies exceptional leadership within Squirro, embodying the company’s values daily and leading by example.
His hands-on approach is evident in his genuine commitment to supporting his team. He sources talent from top technical universities across Switzerland and Europe, ensuring a diverse and highly skilled workforce.
He invests in his team’s professional growth through mentorship programs, facilitating upskilling and reskilling opportunities to keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies.
Notably, Squirro extends its commitment to social responsibility by financing coding education for employees with refugee status.
He has spearheaded Squirro’s transformation into a global leader in fintech and AI, positioned it as a leader in transforming data into actionable intelligence, enabling clients to not only meet but exceed their strategic objectives in an everevolving market.
Frans Wiwanto, CEO – APAC, Flywire (Singapore)
Frans Wiwanto is the APAC CEO of Flywire Singapore. He has demonstrated strong leadership in mentoring individuals to overcome challenges and support their growth by providing support and creating transparency within the Company.
He is willing to identify objectives and outcome, evaluate the outcome to determine if changes are needed, and will obtain feedback from stakeholders and customers when executing a new initiative.
He is able to review and streamline processes to improve efficiency and sets milestones to keep track of initiatives.
Frans has contributed in a major way towards the fintech community and ecosystem by participating in different events/ talks related to fintech.
He strives to learn the latest trends and development of fintech and share these information with the Company and the internal team to stay ahead of the industry. He is also a speaker for different fintech events representing Flywire.
Romain Zanolo, Managing Director APAC, Payment Services, IDEMIA
Romain Zanolo is Managing Director for the APAC Payment Services at IDEMIA. His leadership is exemplified by his hands-on approach and teambuilding skills.
Romain demonstrated strong leadership by personally initiating the sales process within the fintech ecosystem.
Under Romain’s leadership, the IDEMIA team has streamlined card program launches and integrated with leading fintech payment processors in the value chain, making it possible to launch card programs in a few weeks.
He challenged and reinvented work and business processes to align with fintech-specific needs, distinctly different from traditional banking.
To achieve this, Romain rolled out comprehensive training plans to enhance his team’s understanding of a card P&L, transforming them into true advisors for customers.
Romain’s involvement in pioneering technology launches in APAC includes projects such as dynamic CVV cards with RHB, biometric cards with MatchMove, tokenisation for digital payments, SoftPOS in Australia, and CBDC initiatives with JCB and Softspace.
