BIS, South African Reserve Bank announce winners of G20 TechSprint

Press release  | 
11 November 2025
  • Fifteen shortlisted teams from around the world competed to develop innovative technological solutions to address trust and integrity in finance.
  • Solutions aim to establish trust among financial institutions through digital identity solutions, improve the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to finance through credit data portability, and drive wider adoption of fast payment systems globally by mitigating fraud and cyber risks.
  • The winning teams are Team Ownapay SA (Proprietary) Ltd, Team Silence Laboratories Pte Ltd and Team FNA and Proto.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), under the South African G20 Presidency, today announced the winners of the G20 TechSprint 2025 challenge on trust and integrity in finance.

The G20 TechSprint is a joint initiative between the G20 Presidency and the BIS Innovation Hub to seek out best-in-class technological innovations aimed at solving challenges facing the global central banking and regulatory community.

This year's TechSprint, the sixth edition of the G20 global hackathon open to developers from around the world, was launched in May.

Fifteen shortlisted teams presented their solutions to an independent panel of judges convened by the SARB in South Africa. Following are the winners for each of the three problem statements:

  • Ownapay SA (Proprietary) Ltd, from South Africa, won the category for problem statement 1, which invited submissions on developing digital identity solutions: establishing trust among financial institutions through innovative, verifiable and privacy-preserving digital identity technologies.
  • Silence Laboratories Pte Ltd, from Singapore, won the category for problem statement 2, which focused on credit data portability: improving the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to finance through secure, consumer-consented data exchange solutions that facilitate seamless cross-border sharing of credit information.
  • FNA and Proto, from the United Kingdom, won the category for problem statement 3, which called for solutions to mitigate fraud and cyber risks: driving wider adoption of fast payment systems globally – and promoting financial inclusion and economic growth – through technology designed to reduce fraud and cyber risks.

The 2025 edition of TechSprint has addressed trust and integrity, while advancing scalability and promoting financial inclusion.



Thank you to all who contributed for your curiosity, discipline and commitment to a more open and trusted financial future.

Pablo Hernández de Cos, General Manager of the BIS

As policymakers, our unwavering commitment to fostering innovation is crucial. The G20 TechSprint has once again shown that some of the most scalable and forward-thinking solutions to global financial challenges can emerge from fintech start-ups in small towns as well as seasoned developers in global hubs.



Hosting the TechSprint on African soil for the first time revealed the depth of talent and ingenuity across our continent and beyond. The solutions put forward underscore the urgent need to build open, trusted and inclusive financial systems that transcend borders and serve everyone.

Lesetja Kganyago, Governor, SARB

Shortlisted teams

Problem statement 1

  • Currency Network Ltd
  • Meeco
  • Ownapay SA (Proprietary) Ltd 
  • Settlefirst Assetsworks Private Ltd 
  • walt.id

Problem statement 2

  • Akiba Digital (Pty) Ltd 
  • A team of eight individuals led by Amit Bapat1 
  • eSusFarm Africa 
  • Silence Laboratories Pte Ltd
  • Smile Technology Pte Ltd

1  Full list of team members: Rakesh Ranjan, Brijesh Baisakhiyar, Vinodh Rajkumar, Hrishikesh Nashikkar, Amit Bapat, Ashoo Jain, Utkarsh Jaiman, Keerthika Dhadapani.

Problem statement 3

  • Banfico VOP 
  • ContexQ 
  • FNA and Proto 
  • Kasikorn Soft Company Ltd 
  • Mastercard 

List of judges

  • Dr Joseph Atick, Executive Chairman, ID4Africa
  • Mr Raymond Chan, Executive Director (Enforcement and AML), Hong Kong Monetary Authority
  • Ms Mary Beth Christie, Independent non-Executive Director, Open Banking UK
  • Ms Violaine Clerc, Executive Secretary, Financial Action Task Force
  • Mr Jeremy Gray, Technical Director, Cenfri
  • Ms Gail Hodges, Executive Director, OpenID Foundation
  • Mr Guilherme Themes Miguel Jose, Head of Division at the Financial System Regulation Department, Central Bank of Brazil
  • Mr Stephen Linnell, Chief Executive Officer, PayInc
  • Mr Mark Munne, Head of Technology, Nexus Global Payments
  • Mr Kwame Oppong, Former Head FinTech and Innovation, Bank of Ghana
  • Mr P Vasudevan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India