Australia’s godfather of open banking, Scott Farrell, has been inducted into FinTech Australia’s Hall of Fame at the annual Finnie Awards.

For the second year in a row, awards were widely shared, with small business lender Lumi becoming the only company to receive more than one award, taking home Best Workplace Diversity and Emerging Leader of the Year .

Payments company Zepto was named FinTech Organization of the Year, while another SME lender, Citoplus, took home Emerging FinTech Organization of the year.

The awards recognize achievements in the Australian fintech industry.

FinTech Australia managing director Rehan D’Almeida said the large number of winners confirmed that the industry has reached a new level of maturity where performance is being delivered across the board.

“With that in mind, we would like to congratulate the winners and finalists on this coveted award. More than 100 judges sorted through 300 high caliber entities, from more than 250 companies, to find these winners,” he said.

Slyp’s Paul Weingarth was named Outstanding FinTech Leader of the Year. Dr. Wisr’s Lili Sussman won Female FinTech Leader of the Year and Lumi’s Paul Pagnan won Emerging FinTech Leader of the Year.

King & Wood Malleson’s partner Scott Farrell was recognized for his role as author of the landmark Treasury review of the Australian payment systemunder the former coalition government, which paved the way for the introduction of open banking under the right to consumer data

D’Almeida paid tribute to Farrell as the father of a new generation of fintechs.

“Many companies in this industry wouldn’t exist without Scott’s commitment to guiding – and sometimes defending – the policy discussion about the right to consumer data, payments and other fintech-related policies in Australia,” he said.

“Scott dedicated himself to achieving balance in every policy discussion and achieving outcomes that both protect consumers and allow businesses to thrive.

“This award recognizes his lasting mark on the Australian fintech industry and his current work in leveraging our experience globally and guiding other countries in establishing similar policy frameworks.”

Farrell joins Reinventure’s Simon Cant as the second person in the category, alongside Australian fintech unicorns, Airwallex and Afterpay.

Winners FinTech Australia 2023 Finnies

BEST DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE: Lumi

EXCELLENCE IN ESTABLISHING GLOBAL MARKET PRESENCE: Zoo data

EXCELLENCE IN INDUSTRY COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS: MYOB & KNOTS

EXCELLENCE IN BUSINESS LOANS: Front spa

EXCELLENCE IN CONSUMER LOANS: Athena home loans

EXCELLENT IN PAYMENTS (incl. Remittance/FX): Wise

EXCELLENCE IN BLOCKCHAIN/DISTRIBUTED LEDGER: Civil ledger

EXCELLENCE IN CRYPTO AND DIGITAL CURRENCY/WALLETS/EXCHANGE: crypto.com

EXCELLENCE IN INSURTECH: honey insurance

EXCELLENCE IN REGTECH: biza

EXCELLENCE IN ASSET MANAGEMENT (incl. PFM & robo): Life herpa

EXCELLENCE IN OPEN DATA: Frollo

POSITIVE IMPACT AWARD: Bright

EXCELLENCE IN FINTECH SUPPORT SERVICES: astero

EMERGING FINTECH LEADER OF THE YEAR: Paul Pagnan, Lumi

FEMALE FINTECH LEADER OF THE YEAR: Dr. Lili Sussman, Wisr

OUTSTANDING FINTECH LEADER OF THE YEAR: Paul Weingarth, Slyp

EMERGING FINTECH ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR – People’s Choice Award: Hello Slim

EMERGING FINTECH ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR: citoplus

FINTECH ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR – Audience Award: Hnry

FINTECH ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR: Zepto

HALL OF FAME: Scott Farrell