Fintech Awards London 2026 names top innovators as market resilience drives scaling across capital. The winners of the Fintech Awards London 2026 have been officially revealed following an industry gathering in the capital, celebrating the companies and individuals driving the UK financial technology ecosystem forward. Drawn from a comprehensive cross-section of the market, this year's list of winners underscores a broader sector shift toward clear profitability, enterprise software scaling, and production-ready artificial intelligence deployments. SME lending specialist Iwoca secured the flagship Fintech Company of the Year title, demonstrating the growing commercial scale of alternative corporate finance in the UK market. The company, which has deployed billions in funding to small firms, edged out a competitive field, with neobank Zopa Bank picking up the Highly Commended recognition. The corporate lending sector continued its strong showing into the Fintech Scale-Up of the Year category, where Creditspring claimed the top spot for its consumer credit platform, followed by Iwoca which received a Highly Commended nod. In the individual categories, Clearscore chief Justin Basini won Fintech Leader of the Year for steering the consumer credit platform through significant user acquisition and open banking integration milestones. In the same category, Killian O'Rawe of Reward received the Highly Commended distinction. The Outstanding Contribution to Fintech award was presented to Nik Storonsky, co-founder and chief executive officer of Revolut, acknowledging his decade-long influence on digital banking infrastructure, international expansion, and global tech valuation benchmarks. The integration of advanced automated systems across financial workflows formed a central theme among the evening's technical categories. Tunic Pay claimed the award for Best Use of AI in Fintech for its multi-agent adaptive workflow designed to tackle fraud prevention at the point of payment. The firm secured a double victory, also walking away with the Fintech Start-Up of the Year award, illustrating its rapid execution and market traction over the past twelve months. Technical infrastructure and regulatory automation fields saw substantial validation. FinregE Limited took home the RegTech Company of the Year trophy for its automated regulatory compliance and policy mapping software. In the Digital Asset Award category, institutional payments bridge BCB Group won the premier prize for its fiat-to-crypto transaction infrastructure, while asset tokenisation specialist Ctrl Alt secured Highly Commended honors. Consumer-facing platforms and specialized service providers also took home high-profile accolades. Growthinvest won the WealthTech Company of the Year category, while GoCardless Ltd clinched the PayTech Company of the Year award for its expanding bank-to-bank electronic payment rails. In the specialist product and marketing fields, Clearscore won Fintech New Product of the Year, and digital lender Zilch won Best Marketing Campaign for its consumer acquisition strategy alongside picking up the Best Place to Work accolade. The corporate support ecosystem that fosters early-stage growth and delivery was similarly highlighted. Chatsworth took the Best Advisory Firm of the Year award for its communication campaigns across the sector, while accounting and advisory firm MHA Baker Tilly was named Highly Commended. In the ecosystem builder categories, TSB Bank Plc won Best Accelerator / Incubator of the Year for its innovation lab program. The mortgage underwriting automation partnership between Mqube and Nottingham Building Society won Best Fintech Collaboration of the Year, with TSB Bank Plc receiving the Highly Commended distinction for its anti-fraud joint ventures. The evening concluded with a focus on social impact and talent pipeline development. Lightening Reach won the Fintech for Good of the Year award for its financial resilience platform that helps vulnerable individuals access support, and Juice Ventures Limited picked up the Rising Fintech Star award.

Crypto payments firm BCB Group appoints Tim Renew as CEO in leadership reshuffle. Renew will lead the digital asset payments firm, with co-founder Oliver Tonkin moving into a newly created president role. What to know: * Tim Renew is being promoted from deputy CEO to CEO after joining BCB Group in 2024. * Co-founder Oliver Tonkin will transition to president, remaining involved in strategy. * The change follows a year of growth and international expansion for the firm. Crypto payments firm BCB Group has appointed Tim Renew as its new CEO, naming the former deputy CEO to lead the institutional digital asset infrastructure provider through its next phase of growth. Co-founder Oliver Tonkin will move into the role of president, where he will continue to focus on strategy, culture and long-term development, the London-based company said Thursday. "With the recent grant of our Canadian licence to add to our multiple licenses in Tier 1 jurisdictions and another major region to follow this year, we're taking a meaningful step toward becoming a truly global platform," Renew said in emailed comments." "We're entering 2026 with strong foundations, growing institutional demand and a clear road map," Renew added. "The priority now is disciplined execution - expanding into new markets, strengthening our product set and continuing to build trust with clients, regulators and investors. Scaling globally for us means connecting traditional banking rails with real-time, blockchain-enabled infrastructure in a way institutions can trust." Renew joined BCB Group in July 2024 as chief revenue officer and was later promoted to deputy CEO. During his tenure, the company expanded its international footprint and reported growth in transaction volumes and revenue, with a growing share of recurring income, according to the firm. The leadership change comes as BCB Group positions itself as a provider of payments and banking infrastructure connecting traditional financial institutions with blockchain-based settlement networks. The company has been expanding its senior management team, broadening its product offering and preparing to close a Series B funding round. Tonkin, who co-founded BCB Group, said the transition is intended to support continued scaling while maintaining leadership continuity. Renew will oversee day-to-day operations and execution as the firm looks to grow its customer base and expand geographically. BCB Group said it starts 2026 having strengthened its regulatory footprint and investor relationships, as institutional interest in digital assets and stablecoin-based payments continues to develop. AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by its editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to its standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy. Commissioned by Pudgy Penguins Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform - combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale. Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative "digital luxury goods" into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token. The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility. The fund delivered an 8.9% annualized net return in its first quarter, targeting 8-10% annual returns through systematic arbitrage strategies. * Sygnum Bank and Starboard Digital raised over 750 bitcoin (worth $65 million) for the BTC Alpha Fund, a market-neutral investment vehicle. * The fund delivered an 8.9% annualized net return in its first quarter, targeting 8-10% annual returns through systematic arbitrage strategies. * Shares in the fund are eligible as collateral for Lombard loans through Sygnum, enabling investors to unlock liquidity without selling their bitcoin positions.