Meet the 2020 Finnies Finalists 

Many in the fintech sector will remember 2020 as a period of tough decision making, hardship and sacrifice. Countless plans for growth have been adapted or scuttled altogether in the name holding the business together, to weather this once in a lifetime pandemic.

But by the end of October, we believe we will have a new way to mark the year. As a period of triumph amid adversity and growth against the odds.

This year, fintechs across Australia pulled together just over 210 entries across 19 categories for the annual Finnie Awards. An incredible result in itself given everything else that is happening right now.

This week we announced the  finalist shortlist for the awards, naming the fintechs and the people behind that have gone above and beyond over the past 12 months.

We want to thoroughly congratulate all the companies and individuals who made the list this year, but also recognise that there’s plenty of incredible work going on in the sector that isn’t captured on it. There are surely companies who simply didn’t have time or the headspace to enter the contest amid everything else that is going on.

We want to invite everyone, regardless, to help us celebrate our industry at our first virtual FinTech Finnies Awards.

Join us for the festivities at 6pm AEST on October 28 from the convenience of your home or office. Alternatively, celebrate the night with some food, wine and your peers at your nearest Stone & Chalk live site.

Now, on to the finalists. Again, congratulations to all. Competition this year was particularly fierce, and all the companies and individuals on this list are truly deserving.

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EXCELLENCE IN CROWDFUNDING

BIRCHAL (winner)

FINTECH ORGANISATION OF THE YEAR

The Airwallex team

Airwallex

Brighte

Frollo

Medipass

Wisr

Tic:Toc

Stockspot

Prospa

DEAL OF THE YEAR

NextGen.net – Frollo acquisition

Look Who’s Charging and Experian

Joust and Loan Dolphin

OUTSTANDING FINTECH LEADER OF THE YEAR

Investor Kim Jackson with Brighte founder Katherine McConnell

Anthony Nantes – Wisr – CEO

Dominic Pym – Up  – Co-Founder

Marie Mortimer – loans.com.au – Managing Director

Gareth Gumbley – Frollo – Founder & CEO

Katherine McConnell –  Brighte – Founder & CEO

Jack Zhang –  Airwallex – CEO & Co-Founder

Fred Schebesta – Finder – Co-founder

Christian Westerlind Wigstrom – Monoova  – CEO

EXCELLENCE IN SUPPORT SERVICES

Startupbootcamp Australia Fintech 2019 Accelerator

Basiq

DLA Piper Australia

K&L Gates

The Fold Legal

UK Department for International Trade

King & Wood Mallesons

Tier One People

EXCELLENCE IN REGTECH

TRAction Fintech Pty Ltd

Adatree

ComplyAdvantage

Frankie Financial RegTech Excellence

EXCELLENCE IN INSURTECH

1WordFlow

Coverhero

Claim Central Consolidated

Medipass

Truly Digital Insurance Contracts

uBind

FreightSafe

Open – Insurance

EXCELLENCE IN INDUSTRY COLLABORATIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

MoneyMe Limited

Meeco

ID Exchange – Personal Data Economy

Fillr – BNPL Partnerships

Zscore

Tanggram

EXCELLENCE IN ESTABLISHING MARKET PRESENCE: GLOBAL

Zip CEO and co-founder Larry Diamond

TRAction Fintech Pty Ltd

SendGold

Afterpay

CoinJar

Verrency

Zip

Raiz Invest

Airwallex

EXCELLENCE IN CONSUMER LENDING

The Athena team

Athena Home Loans

Wisr

MoneyMe Limited

Tic:Toc

Household Capital | Retirement funding specialists

Brighte

Loans.com.au

CampaignAgent

EXCELLENCE IN BUSINESS LENDING

Prospa co-founders Beau Bertoli and Greg Moshal

Business Fuel Finance Pty Ltd

Trade Ledger

Valiant Finance

Tradeplus 24

GetCapital

Prospa

Bizcap

Butn

EMERGING FINTECH ORGANISATION OF THE YEAR

86 400 CEO Robert Bell and chairman Anthony Thomson

Up

Athena Home Loans

Brickfloor

Cake Equity

86 400

XBert

Send

Bizcap

EMERGING FINTECH LEADER OF THE YEAR

Lucy Liu – Airwallex -CEO &  Co-founder

Ben Williamson  – Fresh Equities – CEO & Co-founder

Jill Berry – Adatree – CEO

Oliver Kidd – Archa – CEO & Founder

Preeti Mishra – Assembly Payments – Head of Technology

Belinda Hogan – 86 400 – CEO

Patrick Coghlan – CreditorWatch – CEO

Bridie Ohlsson – Geora – CEO

BEST WORKPLACE DIVERSITY

TRAction Fintech Pty Ltd

Brighte

Athena Home Loans

InDebted

EXCELLENCE IN BLOCKCHAIN/DISTRIBUTED LEDGER AND DIGITAL CURRENCIES/WALLETS/EXCHANGES

Civic Ledger

BTC Markets

Loki Project

Geora

Elbaite

Pellar Technology

The Block Ledger

Independent Reserve

FEMALE FINTECH LEADER OF THE YEAR

Airwallex co-founder Lucy Liu and her mum

Lucy Liu – Airwallex -CEO &  Co-founder

Katherine McConnell – Brighte – Founder & CEO

Natalie Dinsdale – Athena – CMO

Marie Mortimer – loans.com.au – Managing Director

Jill Berry – Adatree – CEO

Preeti Mishra – Assembly Payments – Head of Technology

Carolyn Breeze – GoCardless – GM

Debra Taylor – Open Sparkz – Founder & COO

EXCELLENCE IN WEALTH MANAGEMENT (INCLUDING PFM AND ROBO)

Sharesight

Raiz Invest

Myprosperity

Longevity App

PictureWealth

Plenti (formerly RateSetter)

Stockspot

PortfolioCloud

BEST PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR

Up co-founder Dom Pym and TransferWise head of banks Murali Akella.

Up // Ferocia & Bendigo & Adelaide Bank

Basiq & Regional Australia Bank

86 400 & Accurassi: Energy Switch

Up x TransferWise

Airwallex x Visa partnership

MoneyMe Limited and EML Payments

ToPay (Mobile Payment to BPAY Bill) by AirPay FinTech

Assembly Payments + Standard Chartered Bank

Zip  and 86400

EXCELLENCE IN PAYMENTS

Airwallex

Assembly Payments

The TransferWise Debit Card

GoCardless

Monoova

Beem It –

Verrency

Pinch

• Rebecca Schot-Guppy is the CEO of FinTech Australia. Startup Daily is the offical media partner of the 2020 Finnies Awards.