The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) today awarded 12 FinTech companies a total of SG$1.2 million divided for 12 different companies at the Fintech Awards, which took place at the third Singapore FinTech Festival.

This time around, the awards featured a greater ASEAN representation, with a focus on financial inclusion,  spanning different business areas like credit-scoring, mobile security, anti-money laundering, and digital investment. The Fintech Awards, supported by PwC, recognises innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented by FinTech companies, financial institutions and technology companies.

This year, 40 finalists were shortlisted from more than 280 global submissions including the companies who participated in the ASEAN PitchFest6. 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.

The panel of judges includes representatives from Accenture Technology, Allianz, AMTD Group, Credit Ease, DBS, Deloitte, GIC, Grammen Foundation India, HSBC, Insignia Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures, Mastercard, The Boston Consulting Group, The Disruptive Group, True Global Ventures, UOB and Vertex Ventures.

ASEAN Open Award Top 3

First Place: LenddoEFL (Philippines)

The company wants to provide people access to powerful financial products without exorbitant costs, quickly and more conveniently by using AI and advanced analytics to bring together digital and behavioural data. This helps lenders serve the underbanked. LenddoEFL has provided credit scoring, verification and insights to 50+ financial institutions, serving over 7 million people.

The win granted the company SG$150,000.

Second Place: SQREEM Technologies (Singapore)

Founded in 2010, Sqreen utilises nonlinear pattern recognition technology using singals-intelligence algorithms. This means the programs are able to identify links and associations among vast, unstructured digital activities across any platform regardless of format and language, and determine macro-behavioral normalcy versus micro-behavioral abnormality. The company won SG$100,000.

Third place: Finantix Asia Pacific (Singapore)

Finantix enables clients like banks, insurers, wealth managers and financial advisers to digitalise their multi channel and omni-device strategy by offering flexible component-based solutions that can slot into an organisation’s existing infrastructure and digital strategy.

Finantix’s offering is based on a library of modules and components designed for the financial services industry. The win granted Finantix SG$50,000.

ASEAN SME Award

First Place: FinAccel Teknologi (Indonesia)

FinAccel currently offers products in the unsecured lending space. Its main product is Kredivo, which grants e-commerce shoppers instant credit financing based on real-time decision-making, by offering buy now, pay later without interest or fees. It is usable for platforms like Tokopedia, Shopee, Bukalapak, Lazada, and more than 200 other platforms. The win granted the company SG$150,000.

Second Place: Katipult (Thailand)

The win granted the company SG$100,000.

Third Place: MoneyMatch Transfer (Malaysia)

MoneyMatch is a cross-border payments platform which allows people to transfer currencies, and claims to offer cheaper rates and no hidden fees. The company was also said to be one of the first to launch fully digital know-your-customer (eKYC) user onboarding via their app. MoneyMatch is one of the few companies on the Malaysian central bank’s sandbox.

The win grants the company SG$50,000.

Singapore Founder Award

First Place: CCRManager

CCRManager is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tin Hill Capital Pte Ltd, and supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore through the Financial Sector. They invest in and operates technology platforms and financial solutions for the global trade and working capital industry. Services include Trade Asset Management, a module that facilitates buying and trading assets among financial institutions, and Correspondent Services, a module that digitally facilitates various documentation processes.

The win granted the company SG$150,000.

Second Place: Cynopsis Solutions

Cynopsis Solutions designed Artemis, an intuitive, cost-effective one-stop automation of a complex regulatory requirement on Know-Your-Customer (KYC) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) / Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF). Artemis is built specifically to address the ever-changing AML/CTF requirements prescribed by regulators in Singapore and elsewhere and is intended to be used by Financial Institutions, Corporate Services Providers, accountants, and lawyers to assist them better comply with regulatory requirements. The win granted them SG$100,000.

Third Place: Thin Margin

This Singaporean online money changer claims to be the biggest in the island nation. Thin Margin allows individuals to buy currency at, well, apparently thin margins, and will deliver the currency to users without the need for queuing up. The win rewards the company with SG$50,000.

Global Award

First Place: Everspin (South Korea)

Eversafe, a product of Everspin, is a mobile application security solution developed based on Everspin’s Dynamic Security Module Technology. The technology enables a server to send a disposable random security module in a real-time basis to user’s program. By sending a security module on a real-time basis in a random pattern, the technology gives potential hackers no time to analyze the module to hack user’s program. In addition to the secureness of Eversafe, the solution can detect hacking threats on a real-time basis.

The win grants the company SG$150,000.

Second Place: Naffa Innovations (India)

Naffa Innovations provides mobile application software for offline payments. The company develops ToneTag that allows for wallet based, card based, and direct account debit payments.  ToneTag uses encrypted sound waves to make offline, proximity-based contactless payments on any device. The company uses a proprietary software development kit that encodes data into sounds.  The win gives Naffa Innovations SG$100,000.

Third Place: Keychain (Japan)

Keychain provides secure decentralized data authentication for finance, IoT and enterprise clients on a blockchain network. The company strives towards confidentiality with data security tools, and hopes to ensure critical data systems should contain the same level of operational integrity as life critical, physical safety systems. The application is easily-integrated, future-proof, and fit-for-purpose. The win awarded the company with SG$50,000.

Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik