top of page
The work deserves a stage. This is it.
ABOUT THE AWARDS
The SA FinTech Awards recognise the companies, founders and innovators building better financial services in South Africa. The Awards are independently judged by a panel of industry experts, with results audited by Deloitte.
This is where the sector pauses for a night to recognise the work, the risk, the thinking and the people pushing financial services forward.
11
CATEGORIES
3
FINALISTS PER CATEGORY
1
NIGHT IN CAPE TOWN
Audited
BY DELLOITTE
From start-ups to lifetime legends.
THE CATEGORIES
Best Fintech Start-Up
Fresh companies with sharp products, real users and a reason to keep watching.
Available to Sponsor
Fintech Innovation of the Year
Ideas that moved past the pitch deck and into real market behaviour.
Available to Sponsor
Excellence in Payments
Payment products and platforms making money move better for people and businesses.
Available to Sponsor
Best Regtech Award
Compliance, risk and trust products doing the serious work without making it feel heavy.
Available to Sponsor
Digital Assets / Crypto Innovation
Practical digital asset work with a clear user, use case and compliance story.
Available to Sponsor
Fintech App of the Year
Useful, polished and sticky. The apps people open because they actually help.
Available to Sponsor
Financial Inclusion Impact Award
Work that widens access, reduces friction and makes finance less closed off.
Available to Sponsor
Ecosystem Collaboration of the Year (2025)
Partnerships that prove the best work does not always fit inside one logo.
Available to Sponsor
Emerging Thought Leader of the Year (2025)
Individuals adding useful thinking to the sector, not just noise to the feed.
Available to Sponsor
Fintech Entrepreneur of the Year (2025)
Founders and operators building through the hard parts, with receipts.
Available to Sponsor
Lifetime Achievement Award
For the people who were building fintech before it had a name.
Available to Sponsor
Shortlist energy. Serious process.
HOW WINNERS ARE CHOSEN
01
Independent Panel
02
Clear Criteria
03
Audited Results
Winners are chosen by an independent judging panel of industry experts.
Each category is assessed against focused criteria relevant to that award.
Results are audited by Deloitte before the awards evening.
Meet the Panel.
THE JUDGES BEHIND THIS YEARS RESULTS
Five independent judges score every submission blind, without knowing which company is behind it. Results are audited by Deloitte.
Where the Awards are now.
THE ROAD TO NOVEMBER
Nominations Opened
Nominations Closed
Finalists Announced
Judging Submissions Due
Awards Evening
29 June 2026
21 August 2026
17 September 2026
16 October 2026
26 November 2026
Thirty-something reasons to celebrate.
MEET THE FINALISTS
Best Fintech Start-Up
Young companies with sharp products, real users and the momentum to back it up. These are the start-ups we think you'll be hearing a lot more about.
Happy
Pay
Interest-free BNPL, paid for by brands.
NjiaPay
Smarter routing so payments go through.
SAPay
Cashless fares for minibus taxis.
Meet Our Finalists
FEATURED FINALIST
Halo Dot
FINTECH INNOVATION OF THE YEAR
Explain what your company does to a gogo.
Gogo, remember when you needed a separate camera, calculator, map book and phone book? Going into a branch for banking? Today, all of those things are right there on your phone and that includes your bank.
We do the same thing with the card machine. The person you’re buying from doesn’t need a separate card machine anymore because they can use their cellphone. When it’s time to pay, you simply tap your card on their cellphone, just like you would on a normal card machine.
And yes, Gogo, it’s safe. It uses the same security as a regular card machine - we’ve just taken away the need for another machine.
Biggest win this year
Brand's personality in 3 words
We helped launch one of Africa’s first Tap to Pay on iPhone solution, taking SoftPOS beyond Android and enabling merchants to accept secure, contactless payments using nothing more than their iPhone.
Bold. Curious. Smart.
Brand Emoji
Banned Fintech Word
Unofficial Motto
⚡️
“AI-powered"
We don’t ship sh#t.
The Class of 2025
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
Lifetime Achievement Award
Coen Jonker
Excellence in Payments
Kazang
Financial Literacy Champion
Koshiek Karan
Lifetime Achievement Award
Coen Jonker
1/12
The Inaugural Event
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
bottom of page