RHB, Startupbootcamp Fintech Hackathon focuses on customer engagement in digital banking

• Event reimagines the way banks can engage digitally savvy and traditional customers
• Attracted more than 230 digital enthusiasts to collaborate and co-create solutions

RHB Banking Group and Startupbootcamp (SBC) FinTech held its 2nd Fintech Hackathon in Kuala Lumpur and attracted more than 230 digital enthusiasts to collaborate and co-create solutions that can deliver superior customer experience in digital banking.

Themed ‘Hacking Customer Engagement in Digital Banking’, this year’s hackathon focuses on the use of technology to seamlessly integrate customers’ banking needs with their digital social lives.

Held from July 28 to 30, 2017, the hackathon brought together digital and technology-savvy individuals from the financial services sector and non-financial backgrounds to synergise on new ideas and solutions towards improving how financial institutions enhance interaction with their customers using technology.

In line with RHB’s ‘customer centric’ pillar, the event reimagines the way financial institutions can engage both digitally savvy customers and more traditional customers through digital banking. The hackathon is aimed at discovering customer engagement ideas using new technology, and sparking more interest from coders and potential start-ups.

“Key to delivering superior customer experiences is innovation, which is best achieved through collaboration and leveraging on strengths within and outside of RHB, making this one of the main objectives of this hackathon.

In this digital age, customers are increasingly expecting a simple, fast and seamless user experience that is mobile, flexible and engaging. Financial technology (fintech) will help us become a financial partner that offers holistic and comprehensive solutions.

“We are confident that ideas from this hackathon will further propel our digitalisation efforts and help us to enhance our offerings to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said RHB Banking Group chief digital, technology and operations officer Rohan Krishnalingam.

Participants of the hackathon were given 48 hours to generate ideas on seamlessly integrating customers' banking needs with their digital social lives.

They were additionally challenged to increase functionality and usability of current digital banking platforms while assuring customers safe, friction-less, timely, and convenient services.

Besides these objectives, participants were to brainstorm ideas to attract and retain non-tech savvy customers.

Overwhelming response to participate resulted in the organisers having to shortlist the Top 20 teams for final pitching from an initial 30 teams.

“Hackathons are fantastic opportunities to achieve innovation quickly. If you put over 100 passionate, driven minds together in a room for 48 hours, you will have a recipe for some exciting new ideas. Partnering with RHB for this hackathon allows us to bring rich resources to the participants - experienced mentors can give insights to the hackers as well as receive insights from these innovators.

“This reciprocal relationship and mutual benefit is exactly what Startupbootcamp seeks to achieve through its hackathons,” said Sam Hall, programme director of Startupbootcamp FinTech, Singapore.

The winners were announced on day three of the event for Best Overall Solution, Best Innovative Solution and Best Technical Fit, with cash prizes of up to RM12,000, sponsored by RHB.

Startupbootcamp FinTech is a financial innovation accelerator dedicated to helping start-ups scale globally through direct access to an international network of mentors, partners and investors.

The Startupbootcamp Accelerator programme in Singapore offers S$25,000 seed investment during the 3-month programme and access to more than 200 mentors, investors and venture capitalists to selected startups.

Recently, the top 11 selected start-ups participating in this programme flew into Kuala Lumpur to meet with RHB and its heads of business to gain more insights into the financial services industry in a separate session.

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