Open Banking Expo Awards 2024 remains open for entries

Innovators, trailblazers and visionaries from across the Open Banking, payments and Open Finance ecosystem still have time to enter the Open Banking Expo Awards 2024.

Open Banking Expo is accepting submissions until 26 July, at which point there will be no further extensions to the deadline.

There are 14 categories that organisations and individuals can choose to enter, including Best App, Best Use of Data, Best Financial Crime Initiative and Best Industry Partnership.

This year sees the launch of three new categories – Best Team, Best Sector Initiative and Best Regulatory Open Banking Initiative.

Dr Ruth Wandhöfer, co-chair of the judging panel, Open Banking Expo Awards 2024

Asked why companies and individuals should enter, Dr Ruth Wandhöfer, Global Fintech 50 Influencer and co-chair of the judging panel, Open Banking Expo Awards 2024, said: “I think it’s great to enter because it’s an experience. I think it really helps every organisation to clarify its own purpose, vision and mindset around how would you present yourself, how would you pitch your case to such an audience.”

Discussing what supportive evidence is required, she added: “Just be very clear how you present your data. We sometimes see submissions that are maybe quite fancy from a marketing perspective, but they do not actually include the data that is so critical.”

David Beardmore, ecosystems development director at Raidiam and co-chair of the judging panel, Open Banking Expo Awards 2024 said: “To the judges that have maybe only 20 or 30 minutes to review the entry, they need to quickly get to grips with what it is that you’re doing.”

Asked what tips he had for those entering the Awards, he added: “We do have strong technical capabilities but we’re not looking for all the lines of code.

David Beardmore, ecosystems development director, Raidiam and co-chair, judging panel, Open Banking Expo Awards 2024

“We want to know what the problem is that you’re solving, how you solved it and then, the third thing is, show us the data that says, ‘this was a problem, this is how we solved it and this is what real users have found’.”

There are also two Women in Open Banking Awards categories that recognise the Woman of the Year and the Rising Star.

A panel of 34 financial industry experts will evaluate entries across the 14 categories, with the winners announced at an Awards ceremony at the Business Design Centre in London on 15 October 2024.

Kelly Stanley, co-founder of Open Banking Expo, said: “The past year witnessed significant advancements in Open Banking and Open Finance, which have been driven by both the market and regulation.

“We’ve seen remarkable achievements, from ground-breaking innovations and products to novel ways of serving customers and supporting SMEs in accessing better financial services.”

Stanley added: “Once again, the Open Banking Expo Awards offer an exceptional platform to showcase and celebrate these accomplishments with the global Open Banking, Open Finance, and payments community.”

To find out more about the categories, criteria and how to enter, click here.

For more tips and advice on entering the Awards, watch this video with co-chairs David Beardmore and Dr Ruth Wandhöfer. They also explain more about the new categories for this year in this video interview.