Launch coincides with International Women’s Day in alignment with Finastra’s commitment to forwarding diversity, equity and inclusion across financial services
Finastra has opened its fourth annual global Hackathon. Building on the success of its previous events – to redefine finance for good and build an unbiased fintech future – this year’s launch coincides with International Women’s Day (IWD), aiming to inspire the fintech space to be open by default.
This year the hackathon encourages engagement beyond the global fintech ecosystem with a focus on financial sustainability, inclusion and empowerment. Participants are invited to submit projects under three key themes:
- Sustainable and inclusive finance: Financial inclusion and literacy, sustainable and green finance, circular economy, diversity, equity & inclusion, Sustainable Development Goals
- Embedded finance: Bringing financial services to other industries with Banking as a Service (BaaS)
- Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Digital assets, CBDCs, DeFi, Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and metaverses, Web3
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Chirine BenZaied, Head of Innovation at Finastra said, “This is more than just a hackathon. It is a fintech movement and we want to ignite a world of financial sustainability, inclusion, and autonomy. We’re calling for fintechs, banks, students and more to come forward with innovative ideas. The event is open to all. You don’t need to be a technical expert. We believe everyone has a role to play in redefining the future of finance. I’m excited that we’re launching our hack on IWD, as it underlines our commitment to inspiring women and girls in the STEM space, breaking bias and encouraging equity for all.”
Finastra is making its open APIs available via its FusionFabric.cloud development platform for the hack. A number of partners are also supporting this innovation on a global scale. These include Betacube, DeFi: Chainlink, DeFi Pulse, Google, Hong Kong Cyberport, Lloyds Banking Group, Mastercard, Microsoft, Scotiabank and Societe Generale – FORGE (for DeFi).
Daniel Maggs, Senior Manager, Digital Currencies, Lloyds Banking Group, a Finastra customer supporting the hack said, “We are excited to be involved with this important event that will inspire hackers around the world to innovate and bring ideas that could have real impact and potentially change people’s lives for the better, whether that’s access to finance, something that supports diversity and inclusion or the next big idea that could change the face of banking.”
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Amel Saidane, CEO and Co-Founder of Tunisia-based Betacube said, “We look forward to working with Finastra on this year’s Hack to the Future. The themes and goals align closely with our vision around creating an open and equal fintech industry. It makes perfect sense for us to be involved specifically with mentoring and in providing support to participants, during and post-event, as we’ve done with previous Hack to the Future and Women in Fintech incubation programs, jointly with Finastra.”
Submissions close on April 10, 2022. Winners will be announced at the end of April. Prizes include scholarship programs, cash, and internship opportunities. There is also a special opt-in category for ‘Best Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Submission’, which encourages projects that support this theme.
Finastra is also hosting a youth hackathon for 10-18 year olds, encouraging the next generation to help change the world of finance.
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