Award Categories

The 2023 US Fintech Awards is now closed to submissions

The US FinTech Awards categories are designed to encourage submissions from every kind of fintech, while also offering a wide range of individual and team awards, with a view to enabling the very best of financial technology and innovation to be scrutinised, recognised and rewarded.

Find the categories and criteria, key information and links below. Good luck!

Key dates and deadlines General rules and requirements

Entering the US Fintech Awards is easy

To enter, follow these simple steps. You’ll produce a submission that our independent panel of judges will find clear, concise and memorable.

Register

To enter the US FinTech Awards, you need to register and pay the $350 registration fee. This will enable you to access the entry form and enter as many categories as you wish.

Click here to register
Pick your categories

The categories are designed to encourage submissions from every kind of fintech, while also offering a wide range of individual and team awards, with a view to enabling the very best of financial technology and innovation to be scrutinised, recognised and rewarded.

And you can enter as many as you wish.

Read the criteria carefully for each and decide which will give you the best opportunity to demonstrate your strengths.

The criteria are in a Q&A format, so follow this closely to provide the independent judging panel (to be confirmed soon for 2023) with a clear, easy-to-follow submission and include all of the information requested. Rest assured, the process is entirely confidential.

Read the categories & criteria
Choose the form of your submission

Make sure every submission is unique for the category that you’re entering.

We accept written submissions of between 250 and 1,000 words per category (please note: this is in total, not per criterion).

Written submissions are at their best after several drafts, with input from everyone involved. Remember that your submission needs to stand out from the crowd, so keep it active, free of jargon, and don’t forget to proofread your words before entering.

Alternatively, you can enter a video submission. You’ll have a maximum of three minutes to demonstrate why you, your team or business should win the particular category. Videos are easy to digest and revisit, and they allow the judges to put a face to an entry.

Please note, we are no longer accepting video files. To submit a video, you must upload it to a third-party platform such as YouTube or your own website and supply a link (ensure that the video is private or password protected before submitting).
Submit via the form

Submissions can only be accepted via the entry form, which you can access after registering and paying the registration fee.

Fill out all of the required information. There are mandatory fields for the person providing the submission as well as the subject of the submission.

If you are putting an organisation forward for an award, mark the fields under the Nominee heading with an ‘N/A’ except for the Company name field and make sure you choose the correct category from the list. Doing so reveals the correct category criteria and fields in which to paste your submission. The form must be filled out and submitted for every category.

The form removes all formatting, so don’t worry about italics, bolding, underlining or hyperlinking, as these won’t make it through our system. Furthermore, no supporting documents and attachments are allowed, so don’t use the attach buttons for CVs, promo videos, PDFs and Word docs—these won’t make it through our system, either.

For written submissions, input your 250 to 1,000 words in the provided fields. For video submissions, fill out the form (except the criteria fields) and paste the link to your video into the one of the criteria fields.

Login to view the entry form
Attach your logo

If you make it to the shortlist, we’ll need a high-resolution version of your logo for the ceremony and marketing campaigns. We accept the .JPEG, .PNG and .PDF formats, but prefer .EPS wherever possible. If you don’t have this, don’t worry.
Attach nominee’s photo

This is for the Talent categories. Colour photos are preferred, wide, horizontal shots work well, and high resolution .JPEG is best.
Sit back and wait for news

That’s it, you’re done! Approximately two weeks following the submission deadline, our judging panel will convene to make their decisions. We’ll then get in touch with every finalist to give them the good news.

Request the 2023 entry pack

Product/Service

Accounting Tech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
Banking Tech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
FinTech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
InsurTech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
Investment Tech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
LendTech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
Payments Tech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
Personal Finance Tech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
Pensions Tech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
RegTech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?
WealthTech of the Year
Tell us about the product or service you are putting forward: how does its aims, capabilities, marketing and delivery meet customer needs and requirements?

What is the potential of your product/service? How it can achieve critical mass?

What are its unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

Are there any inventive or innovative aspects that have been developed to bring the product or service to market?

Initiative

Best Use of Blockchain Technology
Tell us about your use case for blockchain or other distributed ledger technology: what were your aims and requirements?

How has your use of this technology improved delivery of the service or product being offered?

Where and how were there improvements in outcomes for customers/users?

How has your use of this technology paved the way for its maturity internally and/or externally?
Data Initiative of the Year
Tell us about your data initiative: what were your aims and requirements?

How has your initiative improved delivery of the service or product being offered?

Where and how were there improvements in outcomes for customers/users?

Was your initiative conducted ethically, with privacy and data protection at its heart?

What recognition has the initiative received from third parties?

Organisation

Best Employer Award
How has your organisation developed professional training and advancement for employees?

What initiatives has your organisation undertaken or implemented to boost morale and physical and mental health?

Has your organisation created jobs in your jurisdiction? If so, how many, in what areas and to what end?

What outreach does your organisation undertake, in order to attract talent and raise awareness about your business?

What recognition has your organisation received from third parties for its efforts as an employer?
Diversity & Inclusion Award
What are your organisation’s areas of focus in diversity and inclusion?

How has your organisation gone about boosting diversity and inclusion internally and externally?

What were the results of this work?

What lessons has your organisation learned and how will these be fed into future initiatives?

What recognition has your organisation received from third parties for its efforts in diversity and inclusion?
FinTech Partner Award
Open to all organisations that provide services to fintechs, including but not limited to, venture capital, legal and consultancy

How does the organisation identify and meet fintech needs effectively and efficiently?

In what ways do they add value to clients’ operations?

How do they forge and maintain excellent relationships across the industry?

Where and how do they go the extra mile for clients?
Startup of the Year
Startups must be fewer than three years old at the time of entry.

What are your organisation’s unique selling points and what differentiates it from the competition?

What is your organisation’s potential and how can its products or services achieve critical mass?

How is your organisation moving toward the next stage of its development?

How is your organisation engaging with the wider fintech sector and supporting its growth and development?
Team of the Year
Provide an overview of your company/organisation and the team being put forward for this award, including member information and roles and responsibilities, experience, and work both in the organisation and the fintech sector

How has your team demonstrated outstanding teamwork?

When and where has collaboration sparked significant success?

How are individuals encouraged to bring innovative ideas to the table, and when has this produced practical results?

What mentoring and support is in place within the team to bring the best out of every member?

How supportive is the team’s leader and what efforts have they made to move the team forward?
Training Award
What are your organisation’s areas of focus in training and development?

How has your organisation gone about boosting training and development?

What were the results of this work?

What lessons has your organisation learned and how will these be fed into future initiatives?

What recognition has your organisation received from third parties for its efforts in training and development?

Talent

Director of the Year
Provide an overview of the director’s (anyone in a senior position, such as but not limited to CEO) experience and work in fintech, including past roles, memberships and third-party organisation roles, and chief accomplishments

How and why is the director an outstanding leader?

Have they significantly contributed to their organisation’s growth? How?

What is their reputation in the fintech sector and how has it been earned?

How do they demonstrate dedication to clients?

What do they contribute to staff development and welfare?

What is their impact on the wider fintech sector?
Innovator of the Year
Provide an overview of the innovator’s experience and work in fintech, including past roles, memberships and third-party organisation roles, and chief accomplishments

What innovation/invention did the innovator materially contribute to and what was their contribution?

What technical expertise and experience did this contribution demand?

How did the innovator contribute to the innovation from a business and marketing point of view?

What were the real-world results of the innovator’s work?

What feedback has the innovator received, internally and externally?

How has the innovator contributed to the wider fintech sector?
Rising Star of the Year
Provide an overview of the rising star’s experience and work in fintech, including past roles, memberships and third-party organisation roles, and chief accomplishments

How has the rising star contributed to the development and release of a product or service, or made significant improvements?

What has the rising star done internally to benefit the organisation and push it forward?

How has the rising star contributed to the wider fintech sector?
Young Achiever of the Year
Maximum age of 30 at the date of the ceremony

How do they stand out from colleagues as someone who has made an impact for clients and firm?

What meaningful involvement in significant work have they shown?

How have they demonstrated commitment to their employer?

What demonstrable energy, initiative, drive, profession, etc have they shown?

Are they making a broader contribution to the profession?