There have been a lot of excited air punches around Wonga HQ lately, and not just because Blackpool has had a successful start in the premiership. Hot on the heels of being named #8 in the Startups 100 2010 list of the most innovative and ground-breaking companies in the UK, we’re now in the running for a number of prestigious industry awards.

The Financial World Innovation Awards, which recognise examples of creativity, imagination and vision within the financial services industry, has shortlisted Wonga in two categories: Excellence in customer communication and Innovation in the delivery of financial products, thanks to our iPhone app.

The UK Customer Experience Awards has named Wonga a finalist for ‘Financial Services including Contact Centres’. We’re quite chuffed to have received the nod in this category as we’re continually trying to improve the customer experience on our site.

Last but certainly not least, and one we’d love for the mantle, Wonga is a finalist in the National Customer Service Awards category, ‘Customer Service Team – Financial Services’.

The ceremonies for all these awards begin in September and culminate on the 1st of December, but no fear, we’ll keep you posted on all the results as they roll in.

Go Team Wonga!

Wonga.com is incredibly proud to have made it into the latest Startups 100 list, which recognises the UK’s most innovative, inspiring and ground-breaking new companies.

Our unique approach to short-term lending combined with the speed, convenience and flexibility of our service has secured our place at number eight on this influential list.

This recognition doesn’t mean we can relax and enjoy the glory of our hard work; instead it fuels our fires and motivates the whole team to find better and faster ways of serving our customers.

We’re pleased as punch to have made the top ten, but watch out top five, we’re on our way!

We were pleased to see Wonga tipped as one of the hot European technology companies to watch in this weekend’s Telegraph. Indeed, we occupied the number one spot in a list of the top ten firms for investors to keep an eye on.

PROfounders Capital’s Brent Hoberman, famous for co-founding of Lastminute.com, and Rogan Angelini-Hurll, general partner at PROfounders Capital, cited Wonga’s real-time loan processing technology as a key reason for their choice.

In layman’s terms that means we are able to make instant yet responsible lending decisions at anytime of day or night. Meaning, if you are approved, you get the cash you need within minutes, sent straight to your bank account.

Everyone at Wonga is laser focused on our customers and making sure we continue to keep them so happy that many of them tell their friends about our flexible loan service.

So it was really satisfying to get a call from the good people at the National Business Awards this week, to tell us we’re a finalist for the Blackberry Customer Focus Award 2010.

It’s one for everyone in the company really, because we all work hard to make sure we’re streets ahead of the competition and offer something truly unique. So we’ll do our best at the judges presentation and then keep our fingers crossed for the final.

Here’s just one happy customer chatting about his recent experience with Wonga…

What a week, what a month, what a year!  We’ve gone from strength to strength here at Wonga HQ and this week the momentum was strong.

On Wednesday night we were named Fastest Growing Company in Europe at the prestigious Media Momentum Awards.

Still on a high from that huge win, a few from the team scrubbed up and donned their finest duds to attend the Credit Today Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Having been short-listed in four categories, hopes were high and we were not disappointed. Wonga came away with two more trophies for the mantle: Best Use of Technology and Alternative Lender of the Year.

This is no small achievement as the Credit Today Awards are the most coveted awards in the credit industry. They give young companies like Wonga a chance to go up against the big banks and traditional lenders, proving there’s a better way of doing things.

As always, we’d like to take the opportunity to thank our customers who have helped us get where we are today. Three cheers to you.

Now, onward and upward!

Hot on the heels of our recent double-win at the UK Fast Growth Business Awards and our People’s Voice win in the international Webbys, Wonga came out on top at last night’s glitzy GP Bullhound Media Momentum Awards.

The influential business awards, presented at Sketch in London, are based on things like vision, innovation and operational performance and they compile an annual list of the top 50 rising stars of the digital world.

Wonga claimed the number one spot – named Fastest Growing Business – in the first year we were eligible for the full list. The awards are organised by specialist media and technology investment bank, GP Bullhound, and previous winners have included Seatwave, Net-a-Porter.com and Betfair.

The impressive judging panel is made up of entrepreneurs, editors, investors and senior management from the likes of Google. The judges were impressed with Wonga’s rapid growth and also praised us for our “commitment to responsible lending.”

You can read more about Wonga’s win at the Daily Telegraph website, or check out our Wonga wall of fame.

Tonight we head to the UK Credit Awards, where we’re shortlisted in four categories, including Responsible Lender of the Year and the Corporate Social Responsibility Award. Fingers crossed…

A long Wonga woohooooo has just rung out around the office… Our customers, friends and the global web community have voted Wonga.com Best Site of the Year in the Banking & Bill Payment category of the Webby People’s Voice Awards.

This is a big deal for us, when nearly a million votes were cast by people around the world for their favourite sites, online videos and ads. We are so proud to have attracted more votes than financial giants such as Bank of America and Wonga will now be honoured at a star-studded ceremony hosted by BJ Novak of the US version of The Office in New York.

Hailed as the Internet’s highest honour by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award scheme honouring online excellence. They are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, whose members include Martha Stewart, David Bowie and Twitter’s Biz Stone.

David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards, commented: “Wonga’s win is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators. The Webby Awards honour the very best of the Internet.”

The 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries and this is possibly the most exciting and, well, huuuuuuge accolade we have ever added to our Wonga wall of fame. Past Webby winners have included global names such as Amazon.com, Google and Facebook.

We know a lot of our customers voted for us, for which we are truly grateful. Indeed, our sincere thanks go to everyone who voted for us - you can’t beat people power.

We’re in the running for a Webby and we’ve been shortlisted for the 2010 Credit Today Awards, but that didn’t slow us down last night at the Fast Growth Business Awards where Wonga picked up not one, but two awards.

A huge win was the selection as VC-backed Business of the Year which recognises our sustainable business and ambitious team. It was a true group effort to achieve success in this category, and the whole team is glowing with pride today.

No less of an achievement was the nod for Best Use of Technology, which we’re happy to make space for on the Wonga wall of fame. We’re always chuffed to receive recognition for our innovative systems, as technology is the backbone of our success.

But we couldn’t be truly victorious without our customers, whose support and feedback continues to prove invaluable on the road to success. Cheers!

We’re chuffed to announce that Wonga is in the running for a distinguished international business award, called a Webby. The Webby Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet. Wonga is up against four American companies in the banking category, so we’ve got some tough competition.

Being nominated is just the beginning. The Webbys are driven by people power, so now we need your help to bring home the gold!

Anyone can vote and we would absolutely love your support - it only takes a minute. Simply visit the Webby site, then register to vote by submitting a user name, email address and password. You’ll get a confirmation email from the Webbys and, once you’ve confirmed your email address by clicking a link in that email, you can vote back at their site.

Webby People’s Voice voting ends April 29th, so register today and cast your vote for Wonga.com!

Spring has sprung and everyone at Wonga is hopping with joy. Not just because it’s almost light when we leave the office, but because the shortlist has been announced for the 2010 CreditToday Awards.

The CreditToday Awards are perhaps the most respected in the credit industry and they give young companies like Wonga a chance to go up against the big banks and traditional lenders, proving there’s a better way of doing things. Well, it does if you actually win something, as we did last year when named Risk Team of the Year.

At this stage we have only been named as a finalist, but we’re excited because we’ve made the shortlist in no less than four major categories! Wonga is up for Best Use of Technology,  Corporate Social Responsibility, Responsible Lender of the Year and Alternative Lender of the Year.

Awards don’t do anything directly for our customers of course, who are the most important people to us, but it’s still great to see our hard work and innovation being recognised by objective judges. Fingers crossed for the winners announcement in May.