Luvleen Sidhu is the 2023 Executive of the Year
Luvleen Sidhu is the 2023 Executive of the Year. | Tony Zerucha, Fintech Nexus News

USA 2023: Fintech elite recognized with Fintech Nexus Industry Awards

New York, N.Y. — Fintech’s top innovators were recognized this morning when the sixth-annual Fintech Nexus Industry Awards were handed out in New York at the Fintech Nexus USA 2023 conference.

The awards celebrate the achievements of the most outstanding individuals and organizations in the finance industry.

Luvleen Sidhu named top fintech exec

The 2023 Executive of the Year is Luvleen Sidhu, the founder, and CEO of BMTX. BMTX works with businesses and schools to provide customized banking-as-a-service products and offers competitive interest-bearing checking accounts and high-yield savings accounts. Sidhu recently became the youngest female founder and CEO to take a company public at the time of listing.

Esusu co-CEOs Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel are the 2023 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Trailblazers. The duo was recognized for their outstanding leadership, integrity, performance, and commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion within their company and in the industry. Esusu promotes financial inclusion by reporting rent payments to credit bureaus so renters can improve their credit scores. At the same time, owners and property managers maximize returns.

Chainalysis, BHG Financial earn blockchain, innovation nods

Chainalysis is the Best of the Blockchain in Financial Services. A recognized industry leader, Chainalysis’ investigation, compliance, and risk management tools are used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile cyber crime cases and safely grow consumer access to cryptocurrency.

BHG Financial took home Innovation in Lending honors. The award is given to the top lender based on loan performance, volume, growth, product diversity, and innovation. COO Tyler Crawford is one of several BHG executives appearing at Fintech Nexus USA 2023. Co-founder and CEO Al Crawford explored Credit & Underwriting Best Practices for Uncertain Times and his lessons learned during difficult periods on Wednesday morning. Bank Division president Meghan Crawford-Hamlin joins a panel on community banks and credit unions on Thursday afternoon at 3:15. The group discusses fintech bank partnerships and how the relationship affects the two. CFO Dan McSherry is one of several lending representatives who will speak about the importance of diverse funding sources on Thursday morning.

Square is the Fintech Innovator of the Year. Awarded to the company that has demonstrated a strong culture of innovation, producing groundbreaking changes in the industry in the past year, Square is one of the most recognizable fintech brands in the world.

Shmulik Fishman and Argyle are 2023’s Emerging Fintech Innovators. Argyle’s employment data platform provides companies access to real-time user-permissioned records. A successful entrepreneur, Fishman founded Argyle in 2018 after seeing the complexity of work verification while with STRATIM, which he founded in 2014.

Innovation awards go to Current, Tricolor, The Clearing House

The Clearing House earned the Innovation in Payments award. It is awarded to the payments company that delivers innovative products or services with the potential to disrupt the payments ecosystem. Celebrating its 170th birthday in 2023, The Clearing House is a banking association and payments company owned by the largest commercial banks.

The 2023 Innovation in Digital Banking honor goes to Current. Current was recognized for its strong culture of innovation, producing significant advances in digital banking or digital banking technology. 

Daniel Chu headshot
Daniel Chu and Tricolor won the 2023 Excellence in Financial Inclusion award.

Tricolor earned the Excellence in Financial Inclusion nod. The company uses artificial intelligence, a vast data trove, and decades of experience in auto finance to provide effective credit to Hispanic motorists in the United States via an integrated model. It’s a group that’s in many cases a pretty safe bet, CEO Daniel Chu said.

Brighterion by Mastercard is 2023’s Top Service Provider. It is presented to the service provider that has demonstrated deep expertise, unique value, strong ROI, commitment to clients, and the fostering of a deeper understanding of fintech.

“The fintech space continues to evolve and grow, and it’s an honor to recognize the individuals and organizations that are driving the industry forward,” said Peter Renton, co-founder and chairman of Fintech Nexus.

Fintech Nexus is a diversified media company providing essential knowledge, connections, and inspiration to more than 200,000 financial professionals, creating a link between traditional finance and the future of finance. Popular offerings include news, live and virtual events, podcasts, webinars, whitepapers, and credentialed education courses.

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  • Tony Zerucha

    Tony is a long-time contributor in the fintech and alt-fi spaces. A two-time LendIt Journalist of the Year nominee and winner in 2018, Tony has written more than 2,000 original articles on the blockchain, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, and emerging technologies over the past seven years. He has hosted panels at LendIt, the CfPA Summit, and DECENT's Unchained, a blockchain exposition in Hong Kong. Email Tony here.