We're honored to have been included at the annual G20 TechSprint as a finalist in the prestigious global competition hosted this year by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub. This recognition places Smile among the top 15 teams selected from over 165 submissions across 30 countries worldwide.
About the G20 TechSprint 2025
The G20 TechSprint is an international hackathon that seeks out best-in-class technological innovations aimed at common challenges and priorities of the global regulatory and central bank community. This year's competition—the sixth edition—focused on developing solutions to foster trust and integrity in scalable and open finance.
As Governor Lesetja Kganyago of SARB stated: "Innovation must drive inclusion, build trust and deliver a lasting impact on our continent and across the world. We are looking forward to solutions that will bring more people into the digital economy and enable cross-border trade."
Our Challenge: Consumer-Consented Credit Data Portability
Smile API competed in Problem Statement #2, which focused on improving the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access finance through secure, consumer-consented data exchange solutions that facilitate seamless cross-border sharing of credit information.
This challenge addresses a critical pain point in emerging markets: the lack of accessible, verified financial data that prevents millions of individuals and SMEs from accessing credit and financial services they need to grow. Our approach aligns with our mission of making credit accessible through innovative financial solutions across Southeast Asia.
The Smile Solution: Real-Time, Verified Employment Data
Our solution leverages Smile API's comprehensive suite of products to transform credit risk assessment through instant access to verified identity, employment, and income data:
Smile Wink: Employment and Income Verification
Our flagship product provides detailed, verified employment data—including identity, employment history, income, and liabilities—aggregated from authoritative sources such as government databases, payroll systems, and gig platforms. All data is accessed with explicit user consent captured through our SDK.
Smile Snap: Intelligent Document Processing
This AI-powered service uses machine learning and natural language processing to extract, comprehend, and contextualize information from employment documents like payslips, then validates this data against authoritative third-party sources. This represents a significant advancement in alternative credit data solutions.
Smile Signals: Fraud Detection and Prevention
Our friction-free, API-only solution enables swift identity, employment, and income verification without requiring SDK integration or user logins. Key features include:
- Verification: Matching user-provided identity details against reliable sources with confidence scoring
- Record Lookup: Detecting fraud signals from third-party databases and public records
- Multiple Application Warning (MAW): Real-time notifications to lenders about potential borrowers applying for multiple loans
Learn more about our complete suite of digital trust solutions.
What Makes Our Approach Unique
Unlike traditional credit assessment methods that rely on limited financial history, Smile API taps into the most reliable source of creditworthiness data: verified employment and income information from authoritative sources. Our G20 TechSprint 2025 finalist solution is distinguished by:
- Direct Integration: Connection to government registries, and online authoritative systems
- Real-Time Consent: User-controlled data sharing with transparent permissions
- Multi-Product Flexibility: SDK, API, and AI document processing options to fit different use cases
- Strong Fraud Prevention: Built-in signals and warnings to protect lenders
- Privacy-First Architecture: All communications secured via HTTPS with RESTful APIs using JSON
The Global Stage: Competing for Financial Inclusion
Competing alongside finalists from South Africa, India, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, we had the opportunity to showcase our solution to an independent panel of experts and receive feedback from central banks and regulatory authorities from around the world.
The event marked a significant milestone as the first time the G20 TechSprint was hosted on African soil, highlighting the depth of fintech innovation emerging from the continent and its potential to solve global financial inclusion challenges.
The competition featured three problem statements:
- Digital identity solutions for secure and trusted finance
- Consumer-consented and secure credit data portability (Smile's category)
- Solutions to mitigate fraud and cyber risks in fast payment systems
What This Means for Financial Inclusion
By enabling secure, consumer-consented access to verified employment data, Smile API is helping to break down the barriers that prevent millions of individuals and SMEs from accessing credit. Our G20 TechSprint 2025 finalist solution demonstrates that trust and integrity in open finance systems can be achieved through:
- Consumer empowerment: Users maintain control over their data and consent
- Lender confidence: Access to verified, real-time information reduces risk
- Regulatory compliance: Built-in privacy and security standards align with global frameworks
- Cross-border readiness: Standardized data models facilitate seamless international data exchange
Our approach is particularly relevant for credit data solutions in emerging markets, where traditional credit scoring models often exclude creditworthy borrowers due to thin credit files.
The Technology Behind Our G20 TechSprint Solution
Our platform is fundamentally built on RESTful principles, utilizing JSON for all request and response payloads, with all communications secured via HTTPS. We leverage:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for advanced data extraction and analysis
- Natural Language Processing (NLP) for intelligent document comprehension
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to digitize employment and income documents
- Client SDK and Wink Widget for seamless user consent capture and authentication
- Integration with authoritative third-party data sources for real-time verification
This technical foundation enables us to deliver the speed, accuracy, and security that modern lending requires while maintaining the highest standards of data privacy and consumer protection.
Recognition on the World Stage
Being selected as a G20 TechSprint 2025 finalist from a competitive field of 165+ submissions represents a significant validation of our approach to solving one of the most pressing challenges in global finance: enabling SME access to credit through secure, consumer-consented data sharing.
The finalist selection process involved:
- Initial submission review by BIS Innovation Hub and SARB experts
- Eight-week development period for shortlisted teams
- Presentation to central banks and regulatory authorities
- Evaluation by an independent panel of global judges
Looking Ahead: Building the Future of Open Finance
Being recognized as a G20 TechSprint 2025 finalist validates our mission to become Asia's one trusted source for employment data. As we continue expanding across Southeast Asia and beyond, this recognition reinforces our commitment to building financial infrastructure that promotes trust, integrity, and inclusion.
The competition aligns perfectly with our vision for the future of lending, where AI and alternative credit data work together to create more accessible, fair, and efficient credit markets.
We're grateful to the SARB, BIS Innovation Hub, and the entire G20 TechSprint organizing team for creating this platform for innovation. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners—together, we're building a more open, trusted, and inclusive financial future.
Join Us in Transforming Credit Assessment
The G20 TechSprint 2025 finalist recognition is just one milestone in our journey to democratize access to financial services. If you're interested in:
- Lenders: Reducing default rates and expanding your addressable market with verified employment data
- Fintechs: Integrating real-time income verification into your lending platform
- Enterprises: Implementing consumer-consented data sharing solutions
- Partners: Collaborating on open finance initiatives
Contact us today to learn how Smile API can help you build more inclusive financial products.
About Smile API
Smile API is a technology company dedicated to providing real-time verification of an individual's identity, employment, and income data across various industries. Our solutions empower financial services, fintech companies, HR departments, property management firms, and other organizations to make informed, data-driven decisions that lead to increased adoption, reduced operational costs, and minimized fraud risk.
As a G20 TechSprint 2025 finalist, we're proud to be at the forefront of innovation in consumer-consented credit data portability and financial inclusion.