South African fintech startup, Paycode, has been selected as one of the top 4 finalists in the Women’s World Banking Fintech Innovation Challenge and will be competing live at 2023 Making Finance Work for Women Summit in Mumbai, India, in May.
Selected from a pool of 98 highly qualified applicants across 34 countries, Paycode was judged based on rigorous criteria by an expert advisory committee that evaluated several factors, including product innovation, gender inclusivity, financial viability, scale potential, team experience, and diversity.
“Paycode is delighted to be a finalist in the Women’s World Banking Fintech Innovation Challenge, and we look forward to presenting our solution to the judges at the Making Finance Work for Women Summit in Mumbai later this year,” Paycode CEO, Gabe Ruhan said in a press statement. “We are proud to be recognized as a leading fintech in Africa, and we look forward to building on our success to drive financial inclusion for millions through our world-class digital identity and payments solution.”
The Global Head of Financial Industry and Network Advocacy for Women’s World Banking, Ms. Marina Dimova, said fintech founders develop new solutions when they see an unmet need or an underserved community, and low-income women are absolutely an underserved community. “By calling on fintech innovators from around the world and inviting them to present their best ideas at the Fintech Innovation Challenge, we aim to advance women’s financial inclusion and scale growth,” she said.
Marina further noted that “We look forward to seeing our finalists presenting their exciting solutions live in India, bringing us closer to achieving an inclusive economy for all.”
The announcement builds on Paycode’s winning streak, which started in May 2022 in Mozambique after winning the Mondato Award for Digital Finance Innovation. This was followed by the UK-based Payments Association’s Pay360 Award (sponsored by Mastercard), where Paycode won Best Financial Inclusion Payments Initiative. The fintech solution was then named 2nd runner-up in the Ecobank Fintech Challenge in October 2022 in Togo and emerged as a semi-finalist in the Women’s World Banking Fintech Innovation Challenge in December 2022.
The common theme across all the competitions was the need for robust financial inclusion solutions that serve people living in deep rural areas. In Africa alone, almost one billion people cannot access basic financial services due to a lack of identity, a lack of connectivity, and high fees.
Paycode’s biometric identity and digital payments solution works offline in real-time, overcoming these barriers to financial inclusion.
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