Entries are now being accepted for the second annual Finnie Awards, giving Australia’s 600+ fintech companies an opportunity to be recognised for their successes.
Presented by FinTech Australia in partnership with the NSW Government’s Jobs for NSW, the industry-backed ‘Finnies’ boast 23 awards, including FinTech Organisation of the Year, Outstanding FinTech Leader of the Year, Female FinTech Leader of the Year, Emerging FinTech Leader of the Year and Emerging FinTech Organisation of the Year.
Fintech companies also have an opportunity to be recognised for excellence in sectors such as lending, wealth management, payments, crowdfunding, blockchain, artificial intelligence and regtech. For this year’s awards, a new award category has been introduced for the best fintech customer experience/design outcome.
FinTech Australia chair Stuart Stoyan said the Finnie awards are an important way to celebrate the best and brightest in the rapidly growing fintech industry.
“The award categories have also been specifically designed to help showcase companies which are tackling many of the barriers to our industry’s growth, as highlighted in our EY FinTech Australia Census,” he said.
“This includes fintechs that are driving female leadership and participation, successfully collaborating with banks and other financial institutions, expanding internationally and creating great market awareness of their product.”
Commenting on Jobs for NSW’s continued support for the Finnies, Deputy Premier and Minister for Small Business John Barilaro described NSW as Australia’s fintech capital, noting it is home to 54% of the countries fintech companies.
“Technology is transforming financial services and we recognise the high potential to grow our fintech industry to generate future economic returns and jobs for our state,” he said.
“As well as celebrating our fintech champions through the Finnies, we are investing $35 million in the Sydney Startup Hub which is home to leading fintech accelerator Stone & Chalk. Through Jobs for NSW we have supported about 30 fintechs to date, investing over $800,000 in their growth including companies like Pennybox and FarmPay.”
Nick Molnar, the CEO of Afterpay, said his company’s FinTech Organisation of the Year award in last year’s Finnies had helped build Afterpay’s brand awareness and industry backing.
“The award gave Afterpay external appreciation for the hard work and effort our dedicated team puts into the business day in, day out,” he said.
“We are honoured to have been awarded FinTech Organisation of the Year and recognised amongst our peers and the fintech community.
“Afterpay is proud to be able to offer a payment option that is fully aligned with the customer and resonates with Australian consumers, helping to stimulate sales and grow retail businesses.”
More details about the Finnies, including award entry details, are available at https://fintechaustralia.org.au/finnies-18/ and entries can be submitted https://finnies.awardsplatform.com/.
Award entries are open until Sunday 18 March, with the gala award ceremony to be held Wednesday 13 June.
