Innotribe, SWIFT’s startup engine, today unveiled the 15 companies that are finalists for the $50,000 prize for best startup to be awarded at the upcoming Sibos Dubai.

We’ve narrowed down the 15 to the 10 we think are best, and rank ordered them based on what we know about the companies right now. (Some of the startups are early stage ventures.)

Our votes for best Innotribe startups:

1. z-crd, a modern secure and scaleable cloud-based international transaction system that cuts out middlemen, reduces transaction costs and offers services currently unheard of. Any startup that out and out aims to compete with Visa, MasterCard and American Express gets our respect.
2. Quantum4D, visual analytic software that allows users to access large-scale data systems, and construct, edit and explore interlinked 3D arenas and workspaces intuitively. We’re not sure this visualization of massive amounts of data means anything, but it sure does look cool.
3. Azimo, a platform that uses mobile and social technology to reinvent the way that economic migrants send money back to their families in the developing world. This is crowded space, but there is certainly great potential for any venture that can master this tricky consumer need.
4. The Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, an automated service that has helped companies and lenders in more than 20 countries to identify high potential, credit-worthy entrepreneurs based on a psychometric system, while reducing their default rates and risks. EFL’s approach to credit assessment is way ahead of the standard credit bureau fair. 
5. XYverify, a virtually “invisible” mobile payment authentication solution that protects consumers, merchants and financial institutions from identity theft and transaction-related breaches. Geolocation seems to be best-suited for security applications, and this venture has a good grip on how to make it work, without freaking out consumers.
6. Growth Intelligence, automatically generates qualified time-sensitive sales leads, tracking the performance and activity of every business in the economy in real time. There cannot be a more accretive use of social media data that what Growth Intelligence offers.
7. Twikey, a simple, fast and safe solution to efficiently manage online mandates and contracts with their end-customers. We like how the startup is also being driven by a regulatory/compliance requirement that is going into effect at the start of 2014.
8. V-Key, a “liquid defense micro-vm” to protect mobile applications against cyber-attacks.
9. Waratek, a solution that solves a specific problem affecting the future use of Java as the industry moves towards higher levels of infrastructure virtualisation and private Clouds.
10. PassportFX, a regulated clearing service for central and commercial banks.

The other Innotribe finalists:

GIEOM, a product that interconnects banking operations providing information on business processes, screen simulations of IT systems, e-books of regulations and business performance.

Virtual Piggy, a global payment enabling service that facilitates the online spending of under eighteens and young adults in a parent approved manner.

P2P Cash, a secure mobile platform that lowers money transfer cost to zero by using SWIFT standards to allow cash to be sent or received from any mobile wallet or bank account worldwide.

Pocketbook, an application to manage personal finance providing a single view on spending.

Realty Mogul, an innovative web platform that allows investors to browse, screen and sign rare real estate opportunities that have been historically difficult to access.