A global organisation that works to advance the financial inclusion of low-income women worldwide, Women’s World Banking has announced the winner of its fourth Fintech Innovation Challenge (FIC) in Mumbai’s Taj Palace as part of its Making Finance Work for Women Summit.
India’s digital lending platform IndiaP2P and South African digital payments firm Paycode have won the coveted grand prize. FIC is a global competition to highlight and advance solutions that accelerate the effective usage of digital financial services for low-income women including sending and receiving money, credit for women-led MSMEs, safety net products (savings, insurance, and pensions) and beyond money (financial and digital capabilities).
President and CEO of Women’s World Banking Mary Ellen Iskenderian said: “I was so impressed with our finalists’ commitment to catering to the women’s market. With applicants from three different countries from different regions around the world, including South Africa, India, and Singapore, it tells us that there is a real appetite and commercial viability for financial products designed specifically for women. I’d like to congratulate Neha Juneja, co-founder of IndiaP2P and Gabriel Ruhan, CEO of Paycode for their win. I look forward to seeing everything they accomplish next.”
This year, the Fintech Innovation Challenge attracted a global set of applications – 98 from 34 countries. Four finalists – Paycode, IndiaP2P, GajiGesa, and MeraBills – took the stage and presented to a distinguished judging panel. Each finalist offered a suite of impressive and diverse products, including an employee benefits platform (GajiGesa), a P2P investment platform (IndiaP2P), secure payments via biometric identity validation (Paycode) and a business management app for women micro-entrepreneurs (MeraBills).
Further, any FIC semi-finalist that was founded or co-founded by women has automatically been granted membership to Women’s World Banking first-ever Female Founder’s Circle – a platform designed to help female founders gain exposure, exchange ideas and experiences, and elevate their profile through Women’s World Banking’s global network.
The Making Finance Work for Women Summit has concluded after deliberations on today’s reality, what it means for women’s financial inclusion, and the drags on macroeconomic growth. G20 Sherpa Mr. Amitabh Kant concluded the Summit by highlighting the importance of bringing a gender lens to developing Digital Public Infrastructure.
