At the 2026 Fintech Australia Finnie Awards, Hello Clever took home three awards. More than any other business on the night. Best Workplace Diversity, Excellence in Establishing a Global Presence, and Outstanding Fintech Leader of the Year for our CEO Caroline Tran.
It is our strongest Finnies performance to date, building on Emerging FinTech of the Year in 2023 and Caroline’s Female Fintech Leader of the Year win in 2025.
🏆 A leader who backed her convictions
Caroline Tran founded Hello Clever in Sydney in 2021 with a belief that real-time payments were a blind spot in global finance worth fixing. Five years later, that conviction is being recognised at the highest level in Australian fintech.
Outstanding Fintech Leader of the Year is the top individual award in the industry. Caroline is the first Hello Clever founder to win it.
“It’s also an incredible honour to be named Outstanding Fintech Leader of the Year. I’ve met and worked alongside some incredible executives in this space, to win this award is a career highlight of mine. It’s incredible motivation for both me and the business as we have our greatest year to date.”
🌍 Going global, with intention
Excellence in Establishing a Global Presence marks 12 months of real expansion. Hello Clever is now live in the United States, Japan, and South East Asia, backed by an Australian Financial Services Licence secured in November 2025.
“Hello Clever is going from strength to strength, expanding to the United States, Japan and South East Asia within the past 12 months and securing an Australian Financial Services Licence last November. We’re only getting started, there’s still so much to do.”
Real-time payments remain largely unsolved across global markets. Hello Clever is building the infrastructure to change that. One market at a time.
💙 A team worth recognising
Best Workplace Diversity is not a policy win. It reflects five years of building a team where different perspectives are genuinely welcomed and shape how the product is built.
Our team spans multiple countries and time zones, united by a belief that payments infrastructure can be smarter, faster, and more rewarding. This award belongs to every person who helped build that culture.
“We always said 2026 was going to be a huge year for Hello Clever, and these award wins confirm it. We’re only getting started, there’s still so much to do.”
Three Finnies in 2026. The work continues.
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