Nigerian fintech Touch and Pay has won the 2022 edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge and with it a US$50,000 cash prize — said to be the largest no-strings attached fintech cash prize in Africa.

The announcement was made at the Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2022 Grand Finale held at Ecobank’s headquarters in Lomé, presided by Togo’s Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation Cina Lawson.

Touch and Pay digitises and processes microtransactions across Africa. The company’s flagship product is a contactless card for paying bus fares which has over two million users.

The winner and the other five finalists were also inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, a programme that gives them the opportunity to explore commercial partnerships with Ecobank.

The five other finalists for the 2022 edition are Cauri Money (Senegal), DizzitUp (Togo), MaishaPay (Democratic Republic of Congo), Moni Africa (Nigeria), Paycode (South Africa).

Almost 4,000 startups have participated in the five editions of Ecobank Fintech Challenge since it was launched in 2017. Since then, 52 fintechs have been inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship.

The 2022 Ecobank Fintech Challenge was supported by partners including Arise, Konfidants, Tech Cabal, Africa Fintech Network and ALX Ventures.

“This year’s six finalists have set the bar high at this Grand Finale. Their innovations are revolutionising the financial payments landscape in Africa and advancing financial inclusion,”

said Ade Ayeyemi, Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Group.

“We at Touch and Pay (TAP) are excited about the opportunity given to us to work with Ecobank, a pan-African bank operating across Africa.

 

This plugs into our vision of helping 250 million Africans process cash-based transactions digitally making them truly cashless and providing true credit facilities for merchants, retailers, and customers.”

said Oluwole Michael, CEO of Touch and Pay.