26 innovations conferred 1st Bangladesh Fintech Awards in 11 categories
The LankaBangla Finance Ltd presents the first-ever Bangladesh Fintech Award Powered by upay and in association with The Business Standard honoured 26 winners across 11 categories through an auspicious gala last night at the Grand Ballroom in Sheraton in Dhaka.
The gala was graced by high officials from the financial sector of the country, government and regulatory bodies and fintech enthusiasts. An initiative of Bangladesh Fintech Forum, the prestigious ceremony was organised by Bangladesh Brand Forum.
The accolade celebrated 26 winning entries by honouring them as Winners & Honorable Mentions in 11 distinct categories. The accolade in its very first edition received an astounding 100+ nominations. Afterwards, the selected entries went through four astute grand jury panels to ensure the best submissions emerged victorious.
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The Awards were given by Dr Dewan M Humayun Kabir, Project Director (Joint Secretary), a2i Programme, ICT Division; Prof Mohammad Abdul Momen, Director, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka; Prof Dr Muhammad Abdul Moyeen, Dean (Acting), Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka; Prof Imran Rahman, Vice-Chancellor, University of Liberal Arts and Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Director & Creative Editor, Bangladesh Brand Forum; Founder Bangladesh Creative Forum; President, Women in Leadership – WIL.
Shariful Islam, Founder & Managing Director of Bangladesh Brand Forum delivered the opening remarks at the auspicious event stated "Financial innovation has to be at the center of the entire equation whether we talk about sustainability, climate change or innovation. In the Fintech summit, our message is to find out newer and better solutions that serve all classes of people instead of favouring a single group."
In the welcome note of the summit Khwaja Shahriar, Managing Director & CEO, LankaBangla Finance Limited mentioned, "In recent times we have seen remarkable growth in terms of financial inclusion in Bangladesh but still 50% of people are not under financial inclusion and fintech can bridge that gap in countries like ours."
Following his welcome speech Sydul H Khandaker, Managing Director & CEO, upay mentioned, "Fintech is going to play a significant role in transforming the financial ecosystem. To reap the benefits of disruptive financial technologies, we must learn and adopt the best practices."
The opening speech on the grand occasion of the 1st Bangladesh Fintech Award was given by Shariful Islam, Founder Bangladesh Fintech Forum & Bangladesh Brand Forum which was followed by the welcome speech of Sydul H Khandaker, Managing Director & CEO, upay.
To decipher the true potential of finance for people, community and society and help Bangladesh to achieve its potential, the 1st Bangladesh Fintech Award was preceded by the 3rd Bangladesh Fintech Summit, which was held virtually on 26-27 November. The summit was a stellar success with 400+ financial professionals attending the event across the country.
The theme for the summit was "Shaping Future of Finance for People of Bangladesh" with the objective to provide collaborative space to fintech companies to share learning, success and failure with present and aspiring fin-tech Companies, for entrepreneurs to initiate policy dialogue for the right policy framework for Future Fintech companies to thrive sustainably and to nurture the fintech ecosystem so that Bangladesh receives the full benefit and value of Global Fintech drive and movement.
The Summit comprised eight keynote sessions, four insight sessions, three panel discussions, two case study sessions with prolific international and local industry leaders.
The 5 International keynote speakers of the summit were: Vijay Mani, Partner, Deloitte India; Tim Nicolle, Chief Executive Officer, Primadollar; Narayanan Vaidyanathan, Head of Business Insights, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Kristof De Spiegeleer, Founder & CEO, Threefold & Freeflow Tribe.
The eminent panel members of the summit were: Suchintan Chatterjee, Partner, Deloitte India; Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director & CEO, Eastern Bank Ltd.; Md Arfan Ali, Managing Director & CEO, Bank Asia Ltd.; Md. Ashraful Alam, General Manager, Bangladesh Bank; Rahel Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer, Nagad; Samira Zuberi Himika, Managing Director, Giga Tech Limited; Muna Farid, Managing Director, Hatch Consultancy; Noor Elahi, Country Manager - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Western Union; Sydul H Khandaker, Managing Director & CEO, upay; Prof. Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB); Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, a2i - Aspire To Innovate; Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO, Mututal Trust Bank Ltd.; Kamal Quadir, Chief Executive Officer, bKash Ltd. and Nazeem Sattar, General Manager, SME Foundation.
The 3rd Bangladesh Fintech Summit also facilitated 4 exclusive Insight Sessions conducted by Habibullah N Karim, Founder & CEO, Technohaven Company Ltd.; Dr Dewan M. Humayun Kabir, Project Director (Joint Secretary), a2i Programme, ICT Division; Khandoker Saffat Reza, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Lankabangla Finance Ltd. and Sakshi Chadha, Digital Expert Bangladesh, United Nations Capital Development Fund, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
1st Bangladesh Fintech Award & 3rd Bangladesh Fintech Summit was presented by LankaBangla Finance Ltd, presented and powered by upay, in association with The Business Standard; Supported By Nagad, Guardian Life Insurance Ltd, Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd, Western Union; Hospitality Partner- Sheraton Dhaka; Innovation Partner- Bangladesh Innovation Conclave, Technology Partner- Aamra Technologies and PR Partner- Backpage PR. The project was organised by the Bangladesh Brand Forum and an initiative of the Bangladesh Fintech Forum.
