Media Releases
MAS and SFA Announce FinTech Award Winners at Singapore FinTech Festival 2024
Singapore, 7 November 2024... The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) today announced the winners of the Global FinTech Hackcelerator and the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) FinTech Excellence Awards at SFF 2024. The winners, comprising financial institutions, FinTechs, solution providers and individuals, were recognised for their innovative solutions and efforts in unlocking key opportunities within the financial services industry.
Global FinTech Hackcelerator
2. The Global FinTech Hackcelerator, organised by MAS in partnership with the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), sought innovative and market-ready solutions, to address problem statements centred on “Improving Financial Health”. The winners of the competition were selected on Demo Day, held on 6 November 2024 during SFF. The 18 finalists pitched their solutions to a panel comprising industry experts across multiple domains (further details on the competition and the judging panel can be found at Annex A).
3. The top three teams (in alphabetical order and in no order of merit) that will receive S$50,000 each in prize money are:
| Company Name | Solution Name | Country |
| KaiOS Enable Tomorrow | KaiOS | China |
| WeGro | WeGro | Bangladesh |
| Your Financial Wellness | Your Financial Wellness | Australia |
4. KaiOS aims to transform financial literacy with a gamified, interactive approach that is accessible to everyone - even those without mobile phones. With their personalised learning experience on feature phones, KaiOS ensures users gain practical and enduring financial skills. KaiOS's 'learn-to-earn' model provides real incentives to embark on a digital journey, step by step. Users convert the points they earn into coins with monetary value, which can then be used for savings and other financial services. Recognising that many individuals still rely on cash, the platform utilises existing cash-digital bridges like airtime and mobile money agents.
5. WeGro is a pioneering Agri-FinTech platform that leverages Open Banking and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending to offer tailored financial products, including loans, savings accounts and agricultural insurance, specifically designed for smallholder farmers. The platform integrates all aspects of the farmer's financial journey, including onboarding, KYC verification, loan origination, product purchasing and repayment within a single digital marketplace. Additionally, WeGro facilitates P2P lending, enabling individuals and investors to directly fund farmers, aligning their interests, and fostering community-driven financial support.
6. Your Financial Wellness (YFW) offers a scalable, personalised platform designed to tackle the global challenges of financial literacy and wellness. The platform is a turn-key solution made available through financial institutions and employers and helps users articulate and achieve their financial goals and aspirations. By leveraging advanced data analytics and algorithm-driven personalisation, YFW delivers content that is uniquely relevant to each user’s financial situation, ensuring greater engagement, improved financial literacy and better decision-making.
SFF FinTech Excellence Awards
7. The Awards, jointly organised with SFA and supported by PwC Singapore, recognises innovative FinTech solutions by corporates and individuals. These solutions seek to harness new technologies, create new growth opportunities, promote financial inclusion, and enhance the delivery of financial services.
8. Over 200 submissions were received this year, and eight winners across six award categories were eventually selected by an international panel of industry experts across multiple domains (more details on the competition and the judging panel are in Annex B).
9. The winners for the Corporate categories for the SFF FinTech Excellence Awards 2024 are:
5. WeGro is a pioneering Agri-FinTech platform that leverages Open Banking and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending to offer tailored financial products, including loans, savings accounts and agricultural insurance, specifically designed for smallholder farmers. The platform integrates all aspects of the farmer's financial journey, including onboarding, KYC verification, loan origination, product purchasing and repayment within a single digital marketplace. Additionally, WeGro facilitates P2P lending, enabling individuals and investors to directly fund farmers, aligning their interests, and fostering community-driven financial support.
6. Your Financial Wellness (YFW) offers a scalable, personalised platform designed to tackle the global challenges of financial literacy and wellness. The platform is a turn-key solution made available through financial institutions and employers and helps users articulate and achieve their financial goals and aspirations. By leveraging advanced data analytics and algorithm-driven personalisation, YFW delivers content that is uniquely relevant to each user’s financial situation, ensuring greater engagement, improved financial literacy and better decision-making.
SFF FinTech Excellence Awards
7. The Awards, jointly organised with SFA and supported by PwC Singapore, recognises innovative FinTech solutions by corporates and individuals. These solutions seek to harness new technologies, create new growth opportunities, promote financial inclusion, and enhance the delivery of financial services.
8. Over 200 submissions were received this year, and eight winners across six award categories were eventually selected by an international panel of industry experts across multiple domains (more details on the competition and the judging panel are in Annex B).
9. The winners for the Corporate categories for the SFF FinTech Excellence Awards 2024 are:
| Award Category (Corporates) | Company Name |
| Emerging FinTech Award | Walee Financial Services |
| Financial Inclusivity Award | PolicyStreet |
| Regulatory Leader Award | Napier AI |
| Sustainable Innovator Award | Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation |
| Thematic–Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Champion | Tencent |
10. The winners for the Individual category (in recognition of FinTech mentors) under the SFF FinTech Excellence Awards 2024 are:
| Award Category (Individual) | Individual Name | Company Name & Position |
| FinTech Mentor Award |
Andrea Baronchelli | Aspire, CEO and Co-founder |
| Dr Dorian Selz | Squirro AG, CEO and Co-founder | |
| Frans Wiwanto | Flywire (Singapore), CEO – APAC |
11. Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS and Group Chief Executive Officer (designate), GFTN, said, “Once again, the Global FinTech Hackcelerator and FinTech Excellence Awards highlight the immense potential within the FinTech sector, showcasing exceptional innovations that address pressing challenges in the financial industry. We are proud to see this platform continue to foster impactful solutions that bring meaningful benefits to the financial industry and communities it serves. Our heartiest congratulations to all our winners!”
12. Mr Shadab Taiyabi, President of SFA, said, “I want to extend my deepest congratulations to the winners of the Global FinTech Hackcelerator and the SFF FinTech Excellence Awards. As Singapore strives to be a global FinTech leader, the solutions developed by FinTechs today will play a crucial role in addressing real-world challenges and driving future growth across various sectors. We look forward to seeing how these advancements will continue to shape the future of Singapore’s FinTech landscape.”
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