HaRBInger 2024: Reserve Bank of India’s Third Global Hackathon

HaRBInger 2024 is the third edition of the Reserve Bank of India’s global hackathon aimed at fostering innovation in financial technology. It invites participants to develop solutions for specified problem statements related to financial fraud prevention and accessibility for visually impaired individuals.

Theme 1: Zero Financial Frauds Real-time prediction, detection, and prevention of financial frauds.
Ensuring transaction anonymity in token-based transactions.
Identifying mule bank accounts/payment wallets.
Theme 2: Being Divyang Friendly Accurately identifying banknotes by visually impaired individuals.

Individuals, teams, and entities above the age of eighteen who can enter into a contractual agreement are eligible to apply. Participants should focus on innovative solutions or applications of technology that serve the common good.

Interested participants need to register and submit their proposals online through the Application Programming Interface Exchange (APIX) platform. Registration and submission are open from June 7, 2024, to July 19, 2024. Here is the registration link: HaRBInger 2024 Registration

Phase I: Screening of entries
Phase II: Shortlisting of entries for Solution Development
Phase III: Solution Development
Phase IV: Evaluation and selection of winners

Winners in each problem statement category will receive a prize of INR 40 lakh. Additionally, there is a special prize of INR 20 lakh for the best ‘all woman team’ across all categories. Teams shortlisted for Phase III will receive a stipend of INR 5 lakh for prototype development.

For queries related to HaRBInger 2024, you can email harbinger2024@rbi.org.in. For technical support during registration or proposal submission, contact support@apixplatform.com.

Winners will be selected based on criteria including understanding of the problem, innovation, solution comprehensiveness, ease of implementation, and demonstration/user experience during the finals.

The goal is to develop innovative solutions that address challenges in financial fraud prevention and improve accessibility for visually impaired individuals in the digital finance landscape, aligning with RBI’s commitment to responsible innovation and inclusivity.

Anyone – Individuals (eighteen years and above) and enterprises (including startups) from all geographies are welcome to apply under this global challenge. It is especially suited for enterprises (including startups) with ready solutions that can be piloted with limited additional development and integration efforts.

You may apply for more than one category if you fulfil all the criteria set out in each category.

No, your solution can aim to address the needs covered by more than one problem statement. We are looking at the uniqueness of the proposition and feasibility of the business model alongside to achieve the desired goal.

You are not allowed to submit multiple entries under same problem statement. However you may submit entries under different problem statements.

Applications will be received only through APIX platform. The Hackathon shall run in four phases with Screening of entries in the first phase, Shortlisting of entries for Solution Development in the second phase, Solution Development in Third Phase and Evaluation and Selection of winners in the Fourth Phase. RBI will shortlist the most promising ideas for the second phase wherein the participants will have to submit the working solution/running code/prototype, on APIX platform. Wherever needed, these solutions may be provided with mentoring, technical and regulatory support so that demo-able products can be created. The winners will be selected from the shortlisted products based on the product pitch and demo towards the end of the program.

You need not be a registered firm for participation in the event.

The prize will be disbursed in Indian Rupees (₹) to the winners as per Reserve Bank of India policies and will be subject to tax deductions as applicable in India.

Information provided to us through the online application will be shared only on a need-to-know basis within the relevant event and evaluation teams. The information provided will be retained by us post the program for audit purposes and will not be shared without obtaining explicit permission from the applicant / authorized team member.

No. Applicants cannot request for re-evaluation. The decision of the judges shall be final and binding. Reserve Bank of India reserves all rights with respect to the event.

The participants can choose to develop the solution via APIX or use their own IDEs. But if they are using their own IDEs then they will have to bring the code, compile it, run it on APIX, and present the running code before the judges for evaluation.