The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) announced the winners of the Global FinTech Hackcelerator and the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) FinTech Excellence Awards at the SFF 2024 on November 7.

The winners, comprising financial institutions, fintechs, solution providers and individuals, were recognized for their innovative solutions and efforts in unlocking key opportunities within the financial services industry.  

Global FinTech Hackcelerator

The Global FinTech Hackcelerator, organized by MAS in partnership with the Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN), sought innovative and market-ready solutions, to address problem statements centred on the theme of “improving financial health”.

The winners of the competition were selected on Demo Day, held on November 6 during the SFF. The 18 finalists pitched their solutions to a panel comprising industry experts across multiple domains.

The top solutions (in no order of merit), whose teams will receive S$50,000 (US$37,724) each in prize money, are:

• KaiOS, by Chinese company KaiOS Enable Tomorrow
• WeGro, by Bangladeshi company WeGro
• Your Financial Wellness, by Australia’s Your Financial Wellness.

The KaiOS solution aims to transform financial literacy with a gamified, interactive approach that is accessible to everyone – even those without mobile phones. With their personalized learning experience on feature phones, KaiOS ensures users gain practical and enduring financial skills.

KaiOS’ 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. Recognizing that many individuals still rely on cash, the platform uses existing cash-digital bridges like airtime and mobile money agents.

The WeGro solution 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, know-your-customer 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.

The Your Financial Wellness (YFW) solution offers a scalable, personalized 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 personalization, 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 

The awards, jointly organized with SFA and supported by PwC Singapore, recognize 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.

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. 

The corporate winners by category are:

• 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.

The individual winners of the FinTech Mentor Award are:

• Andrea Baronchelli, Aspire’s CEO and co-founder
• Dorian Selz, Squirro AG’s CEO and co-founder
• Frans Wiwanto, Flywire (Singapore)’s CEO for Asia-Pacific.

“The awards highlight the immense potential within the fintech sector, showcasing exceptional innovations that address pressing challenges in the financial industry,” says Sopnendu Mohanty, the MAS’ chief fintech officer, and GFTN’s group CEO (designate).

Shadab Taiyabi, SFA’s president, adds: “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.”