MAS and ABS award SGD1.15 million to 10 fintech firms

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), awarded a total of SGD1.15 million to 10 fintech firms during the FinTech Awards, a part of the Singapore FinTech Festival.

The Fintech Awards recognizes innovative fintech solutions implemented by fintech startups, tech companies and financial institutions. The 10 selected fintech awardees include BioCatch that received ‘ABS Global FinTech Award’ of  SGD150,000; fastacash Pte Ltd, M-DAQ Pte Ltd and Pole Star Space Applications Ltd that received ‘MAS FinTech Awards (Singapore Open)’ of SGD250,000, SGD100,000 and SGD50,000 respectively. Apart from these, there were also ‘MAS FinTech Awards (Singapore SME)’ and ‘MAS FinTech Awards (Singapore Founder)’ awards.

“The MAS FinTech Awards celebrate the spirit of innovation and creativity within Singapore’s financial sector. We were impressed by the technical quality and breadth of the solutions, many of which span multiple business areas. We look forward to seeing how these solutions can redefine and improve the way we experience financial services,” Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS, said in the release.

The awards were presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of MAS, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and ABS Chairman, Wee Ee Cheong. Ravi Menon, Managing Director, MAS, presented prizes to the winners of the Global FinTech Hackcelerator, which was also a part of the Singapore FinTech Festival.

“The ABS Global FinTech Award is a true manifestation of collaboration between FinTech companies and our members. The generation and incubation of new ideas and solutions for the industry play an important role in strengthening strategic competitiveness in this digital age. ABS hoping for sustained collaborative efforts within the industry, as Singapore strives towards innovation and excellence as an international financial hub,” Ong-Ang Ai Boon, ABS Director said.

The FinTech Awards received over 200 submissions from global fintech firms. The winners were selected by a jury of 13 judges, representing a cross-section of international and local experts from the private and public sector. The selection criteria were based on impact, practicality, interoperability, uniqueness, and creativity, among others.

Last week, MAS issued its ‘regulatory sandbox’ guidelines for fintech, in order to encourage and allow experimentation of solutions that utilize technology innovatively to deliver financial products or services.