Media Releases
 Published Date: 14 November 2018

Twelve innovative FinTech solutions recognised at the 2018 FinTech Awards

 

MAS ABS 

Singapore, 14 November 2018… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) today awarded 12 FinTech companies a total of S$1.2 million at the FinTech Awards, which took place at the third Singapore FinTech Festival .

2   This year’s winning solutions have a greater ASEAN representationIn conjunction with Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship this year, the scope of the FinTech Awards’ SME and Open categories was to include ASEAN companies outside Singapore.  and focus on financial inclusion, spanning multiple business areas, such as credit-scoring, mobile security, anti-money laundering and digital investment. The 12 awardees are:

Award Company Name  Prize 
ASEAN Open AwardASEAN-based companies of any size. The company must have a physical office registered in at least one ASEAN country, and the solution must have been implemented in at least one ASEAN country. The Open category allows companies of any size to participate, such as financial institutions and large technology vendors (e.g. Google). 1st place – LenddoEFL (Philippines) S$150,000
  2nd place – SQREEM Technologies (Singapore)  S$100,000
  3rd place – Finantix Asia Pacific (Singapore)  S$50,000
ASEAN SME AwardASEAN-based SMEs (Small-Medium Enterprises). SMEs, as defined by Enterprise Singapore, are enterprises with an annual sales turnover of not more than SGD$100 million OR an employment size of not more than 200 workers. Enterprises qualify as SMEs as long as they satisfy at least one of the two parameters. 1st place – FinAccel Teknologi (Indonesia) S$150,000
  2nd place – Katipult (Thailand)  S$100,000
  3rd place – MoneyMatch Transfer (Malaysia)  S$50,000
Singapore Founder AwardSingapore-based SMEs with at least one Singaporean founder. The term ‘founder’ is defined as an individual who was instrumental in setting up the SME. There is no need for majority share-ownership. The SME must have a physical office registered in Singapore, and the solution must have been implemented in Singapore. 1st place – CCRManager S$150,000
  2nd place – Cynopsis Solutions S$100,000
  3rd place – Thin Margin S$50,000
Global AwardOne of the awards in the Global category is given by The Association of Banks in Singapore. 1st place – Everspin (South Korea) S$150,000
  2nd place – Naffa Innovations (India) S$100,000
  3rd place – Keychain (Japan) S$50,000

Please refer to Annex A for the top winners’ solutions and their quotes.
 
3   The FinTech Awards, supported by PwC, recognises innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented by FinTech companies, financial institutions and technology companies.

4   This year, 40 finalists were shortlisted from more than 280 global submissions including the companies who participated in the ASEAN PitchFestThe ASEAN PitchFest, powered by PwC, was launched this year to recognise innovative talent in ASEAN countries. At the Singapore FinTech Festival Roadshows that took place between June and September 2018, 70 submissions were received from the local FinTech communities. Nine winners emerged from the ASEAN PitchFest and participated in the final round of the FinTech Awards.. The winners were selected by a panel of 17 judges who represent a cross-section of international and local experts from the private and public sectors. The entries were evaluated based on four criteria: impact, practicality, interoperability, and uniqueness and creativity. (Please refer to Annex B for the list of judges.)

5   Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “We are delighted to see more talent in the region coming through the new ASEAN PitchFest and to observe how the winners are applying FinTech solutions to a wide range of business areas. We are thankful for the strong support from partners like PwC and industry experts who worked closely with us to identify and recognise the growing pool of FinTech talent.”

6   Mrs Ong-Ang Ai Boon, Director, ABS added, “ABS congratulates all the winners and finalists of the 2018 FinTech Awards. We are proud to recognise and honour the best and most sophisticated innovators arising from a good cross-section of the growing FinTech community at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2018. This is yet another feather in the cap for the third edition of the Festival in harnessing the power of the talented FinTech game changers.”

7   The awards were presented to the winners during the Singapore FinTech Festival by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, MAS, Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, Mr Calvin Choi, Chairman of the Board of Directors and President, AMTD Group, and Mr Piyush Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, DBS.

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About the Singapore FinTech Festival (www.fintechfestival.sg )
Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) is the world’s largest FinTech festival and global platform for the FinTech community, drawing more than 30,000 participants last year which comprised of FinTech players, technopreneurs, policy makers, financial industry leaders, investors including private equity players and venture capitalists, and academics. The 2018 Festival will see participants from over 100 countries and host more than 250 global luminaries and 400 exhibitors, featuring highlights such as the FinTech Conference with a new AI in Finance Summit and Global Investors’ Summit, the FinTech Awards, Global FinTech Hackcelerator, Innovation Lab Crawl, Industry Networking and Workshops. The Festival is organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings. Festival Grand Sponsors include AMTD, Deloitte, GIC, Google Cloud and Prudential. Find out more at http://fintechfestival.sg .

About the Monetary Authority of Singapore
As Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) promotes sustained, non-inflationary economic growth through the conduct of monetary policy and close macroeconomic surveillance and analysis. It manages Singapore’s exchange rate, official foreign reserves, and liquidity in the banking sector. As Singapore’s integrated financial supervisor, MAS fosters a sound financial services sector through its prudential oversight of all financial institutions in Singapore – banks, insurers, capital market intermediaries, financial advisors, and stock exchanges. It is also responsible for well-functioning financial markets, sound conduct, and investor education. MAS works with the financial industry to promote Singapore as a dynamic international financial centre. It facilitates the development of infrastructure, adoption of technology, and upgrading of skills in the financial industry.

About The Association of Banks in Singapore
The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) plays an active role in promoting and representing the interests of the banking community in Singapore. In doing so, ABS works closely with the relevant government authorities towards the development of a sound financial system in Singapore. Since its establishment in 1973, ABS has promoted common understanding among its members and projected a unifying voice on banking issues. It has brought its members closer together through various guidelines and banking practices as well as the support of projects of mutual benefit to face the challenges of the financial and banking community in Singapore. Today, ABS has a membership of 158 local and foreign banks. More information on ABS is available on the website: www.abs.org.sg .

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