Award Categories

Categories for the MENA FinTech Awards

The Fintech Awards MENA 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

The MENA FinTech Awards are currently closed to submissions.

Celebrate your successes!

The Fintech Awards MENA is the benchmark by which we judge financial services modernisation and technological progress in the region’s premier financial services centres.

An independent panel of experts will receive the submissions, score their quality, and finalise the shortlist for each category.

Winners will be announced at a prestigious black tie ceremony.

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

How to enter How to win Rules and requirements Contact us Register now to enter

How to enter

Register

To enter FinTech Awards MENA, you need to register and pay the US$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 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.

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.

How to win

It’s all about being memorable and compelling:

Start early. Give yourself plenty of time to carefully evaluate the criteria for the categories you’re entering and provide a well-produced submission before the entry deadline.
Check the criteria. Each category has its own criteria, and each submission should be unique.
Provide evidence. Include as many results and evidence of success as you can, including testimonials. Judges are there to be swayed, so sway them.
Keep it simple. Write or speak clearly and concisely so the judges can quickly understand the points you’re making.
Consult with the relevant team. Collaborate on your submission as you do your work, and ensure that your whole team contributes.
Be enthusiastic, transparent, and honest. Inspire the judges by sharing your organisation’s ethos and passion for your work without trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Honesty is the best policy.
Redraft and revise. Once your submission is ready, start again and interrogate every fact and figure. Are they correct? Question every claim. Is that true? Weigh your language. Is that a helpful term or an empty buzzword?

General rules and requirements

Entrants must be based in the Middle East or North Africa or provide services in MENA.
Entrants can enter as many categories as they wish.
Entrants are encouraged to limit submissions to two entries per category; further submissions may not be considered.
Submissions must be unique and tailored to meet the criteria of each category.
Self-nomination is required.
Written and video submissions are accepted – both must follow the criteria format.
Submissions can be made until 11.59pm on the entry deadline day.
Entrants are expected to send at least one representative to attend the in-person ceremony.
Entries submitted by companies that have undergone administration, liquidation, or significant restructuring will be subject to review to ensure continuity of operations, leadership, and client commitments.
The MENA FinTech Awards reserves the right to disqualify entries where there are concerns about corporate governance, financial stability, or ethical business practices.
The judging panel has the final authority to determine whether an entry meets the spirit and intent of the awards.
The MENA FinTech Awards reserves the right to remove any entries or finalists that do not meet the above criteria or that, in the judges’ discretion, could undermine the integrity of the awards.

Headshot of Matt Gotting For information on sponsorship, contact Matt Gotting

matt.gotting@barkerbrooks.co.uk

+44 (0)113 521 6087

Headshot of Kieren Beal For information on entering, contact Kieren Beal

kieren.beal@barkerbrooks.co.uk

+44 (0)113 521 6088

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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
Crypto Award
Open to all organisations involved in crypto, including but not limited to, blockchain technology, cryptocurrency and CBDCs

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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
PayTech 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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?
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?

What recognition has the product or service received from third parties?

Initiative

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?
Islamic FinTech Initiative of the Year
Tell us about your Islamic fintech initiative: what were your aims and requirements?

How does the initiative balance disruption of traditional financial products and services with meeting the moral principles of Islam?

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

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?
Best ESG Campaign
What ambitious ESG targets has the organisation set?

In what ways are the organisation’s senior leadership taking a top-down approach to planning, setting and executing ESG activity?

Outline at least one recent campaign that best demonstrates the organisation’s dedication of resources, strategic planning and execution and delivery of results in pursuit of its ESG ambitions.

What steps is the organisation taking to continue achieving progress in the pursuit of its ESG ambitions?

What recognition has the organisation received from third parties for its ESG campaign?
Disruptor of the Year
How has your organisation disrupted an area of financial services?

To what extent did your organisation take market share from legacy competitors?

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?

What recognition has your organisation received from third parties?
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
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?

What recognition has your organisation received from third parties?
Team of the Year
How has your team demonstrated outstanding teamwork that 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?

What recognition has the team received from third parties?

Talent

Director of the Year
How and why is the director an outstanding leader?

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

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 recognition have they received from third parties for their leadership?
Innovator of the Year
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 feedback has the innovator received, internally and externally?

How has the innovator contributed to the wider fintech sector?
Rising Star of the Year
In what capacity have they been involved in interesting, challenging and new projects, and how did their contribution significantly affect the outcome?

How are they making a big impact internally, on the organisation’s growth and on colleagues?

How do they demonstrate high levels of dedication to customers?

How are they making a positive difference in the wider fintech community?

What recognition have they received from third parties?
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 the firm?

What meaningful involvement in significant work have they shown?

How have they demonstrated commitment to their employer?

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

Are they making a broader contribution to the profession?