On February 17, 2022, the leading digital payments platform PhonePe announced that, NITI Aayog will host the first ever ‘Fintech Open Hackathon’ by collaborating with it.

Key Facts

• The first-ever open-to-all hackathon will be organised with the aim of showcasing path-breaking solutions for fintech
• The Hackathon will provide an opportunity for digital creators, developers and innovators, from across India to think, ideate and code.

What will participants do at the hackathon?

At the hackathon, Participants are required to use any open-data APIs such as ‘PhonePe Pulse’ along with frameworks like Account Aggregator as a foundation to power use cases, such as:

1. Alternate risk models for lending,
2. Insurance or investments with a focus on financial inclusion
3. Innovative products that use power data signals for demographics and goes for broader adoption of financial services;
4. Improved visualisation and derived intelligence based on digital payments data.

Sources available to participating teams

Participating teams can have one or up to five participants. They will be free to use data sources like Open Government Data Platform, PhonePe Pulse and RBI reports on payments for building their submission. They can also access any other open data platforms, along with Setu AA Sandbox or Setu Payments Sandbox to develop their hacks. At the end of the event, they will present a working prototype of their hack to the judges. After this, each hack will be judged based on some parameters. While considering the hacks, judges might ask for additional information on the prototypes.

Cash Prizes

Winners of the Hackathon will be announced on February 28, 2022. Winning teams would be given exciting cash prizes worth Rs 5 lakhs. The winning team will be given Rs 1,50,000. Two teams at second and third places, will be given Rs 1 lakh and Rs 75,000, respectively. Judges may decide to award more or fewer prizes, depending on the submitted hacks.

Last date to register

The last date to register for this event is February 23, 2022. While, deadline to submit final entries is February 25, 2022.