South African FinTech Awards 2025

You know about financial inclusion, right? But have you actually seen it in action? Like really seen people pouring passion, energy and heart into financial literacy and access? Well… haaaaaave you met Lindiwe Kers? Lindiwe accepted the Enhancing #Financial #Inclusion Award on behalf of the UCT Financial Innovation Hub in partnership with The Interledger Foundation. The collaboration between UCT and Interledger is all about driving fintech research and innovation in Africa, with a strong focus on open payments to improve digital financial inclusion. In short, these are some seriously smart and committed humans changing the financial world, impacting lives and making the right kind of waves. This award was presented by Matthew Crow from Tether.io. Matt, the blue suit was a moment. We totally heart it. And to the winner… well done. You guys are rockstars #everythinglooksbetteringold #winner #SAFintechAwards25

We are beyond thrilled and deeply humbled to share that we were recently named South Africa's most innovative fintech at the prestigious South African FinTech Awards 2025. 🇿🇦✨ This achievement validates what we live by: putting our customers first. Every line of code, every feature, and every dedicated hour from the Lula team is driven by one purpose: to make cash flow for every SME in South Africa.

So payments is defined as awesome… and excellence in payments is defined by Kazang. That’s right, fintech fam. Kazang took home the Excellence in #Payments Award, and they looked as elated as we felt announcing it. Let’s get real for a moment. We all know how important the advancement of the informal sector is, and Kazang is one of the players taking this seriously. They make it safe and easy for spaza shops and informal traders to sell prepaid airtime, data, electricity and other key services straight from their Kazang devices. This is payments excellence at its finest, and we absolutely love to see it. Presented by the awesome Israel Skosana II from PayInc, this award shows just how exceptional the Kazang team truly is. A huge thank you to Michael James Wright, Jonathan Thomson and Lincoln Mali for receiving the award. Here’s to 2026 nominations, ey? #everythinglooksbetteringold #winners #SAFintechAwards25

Do you actually know anything real about cryptocurrency? And no, we’re not talking about the coin names that sound like a medical journal if you say them too fast. If you don’t know much (or you said you do but secretly don’t), you’re in luck. The team at MoneyBadger has you covered. Why them? Because they won the #Cryptocurrency Victor Award for 2025, which officially makes them the bees’ knees of all things crypto. Moneybadger helps consumers pay with Bitcoin online or in-store, with settlement in South African Rand, Bitcoin or Stablecoin. Smart, simple and seriously impressive. A huge thank you to Carl Kritzinger and Ben Blaine from Moneybadger for accepting one of the most coveted awards of the night. And of course, the evening would not have been complete without the wonderful Wendy Pienaar and Ashlin Perumall presenting this award. Are we gushing about crypto? Maybe a little. If you can’t tell, call Moneybadger. They’ll explain it to you. #everythinglooksbetteringold #winner #SAFintechAwards25

The Best #RegTech Award went to Smile ID, and what a moment it was. Co-founder Ian Mindham arrived on crutches to collect this prestigious award, which briefly had us wondering whether RegTech is actually a high-risk sport instead of good old verification, KYC and AML. If you don’t know the team at Smile ID, you’re missing out. They deliver world-class onboarding, identity verification and user authentication for fast-growing businesses and startups across Africa. Plus, they’re just really cool... A big thank you to Fintech Association of South Africa (FINASA) Chairman Kagisho Dichabe for presenting this award, and for doing it in a bow tie! #everythinglooksbetteringold #winner #SAFintechAwards25

Presented by the always fabulous Michelle De Oliveira, CA (SA), Partner at BDO, the winner of Best #Fintech Start-up was none other than Franc! Franc launched in 2018 as the brainchild of some very smart people who believed investing should be affordable, accessible and social. It’s no longer a “rich guy” thing. With the Franc app, investing is for everyone, anytime. Thank you to Sebastian Patel and Gontse Mothibe for accepting the award and looking absolutely fantastic while doing it. #everythinglooksbetteringold #winner #SAFintechAwards25

The event? A complete showstopper. The feedback? “When’s 2026?," and yes, those calls started before we’d even packed up the glitter. But hold that thought… First, it’s photo dump time because we have to show off. Can we just say that you lot turned up looking unbelievable? Dressed to the T, dripping in elegance, and serving fintech glam like it’s a full-time job. We were emotional...genuinely. It was one of the most beautiful things we’ve ever seen (Well, besides our trophies. Those are still the real stunners.) Photo Dump 1… let’s go! If you see yourself, give it a share, give us a tag, and show off your awesomeness. #everythinglooksbetteringold #SAFintechAwards25 #FINASA

We’re PROPER sad, devastated even, that our night in gold has come and gone. Now, for some feedback. Not to brag but, it was as awesome as we said it’d be! If you weren’t there, you missed it and if you were there, don’t worry, what happens at the South African FinTech Awards 2025 stays! We reckon we may just be back for Awards 2.0, so don’t miss us too much. We will definitely bring more celebration to innovation in 2026 Stay tuned for the pics and remember, #everythinglooksbetteringold

It’s D-Day. The South African FinTech Awards 2025 is happening TONIGHT! We’re going to post some action packed shots as the night goes on. Can you say “epic”? We’re ready. We’re excited. And we know, it’s gonna be lit! #everythinglooksbetteringold #safintechawards25 #aff2025