Teams from the United Kingdom and United States have been crowned the winners of United Arab Bank’s (UAB) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange’s (ADX) respective challenges under the first phase of the SCA Fintech Megathon. The first-of-a-kind nationwide Megathon, launched in May 2021 under the patronage of H.E. Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy (MoE) and Chairman of the Board of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), is aimed at furthering the development of the fintech industry by bringing together a large army of startups specialized in financial services technology.
Powered by Fintech Galaxy’s FinX22 platform, the Megathon will continue to run until February 2022 and includes workshops and training sessions, plus two hackathons to showcase innovations that help better address challenges.
As part of the Megathon, participating teams were challenged with creating innovative technical solutions to several challenges facing the financial services sector under eight thematic areas: asset management/investment advisory, digital assets and cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding, forex, e-KYC form, SME financing, financial inclusion, suptech and regtech.
The first round of the Hackathon which consisted of two of the innovation challenges sponsored and organized by the Megathon’s strategic partners – UAB and ADX – has ended.
Commenting at the conclusion of the first round of the Hackathon, H.E. Dr. Maryam Al Suwaidi, CEO of SCA, said: “An important part of SCA’s mission is safeguarding the rights of investors, promoting sound practices and creating an ecosystem attractive to investors and innovation. With this in mind, we were delighted and proud to witness the forward thinking and innovation of all the participating teams, especially those which have won our two innovation challenges held so far. Fintech is an integral part of the UAE’s financial services industry – and indeed, that of the entire world – and looking forward, it is vital that we utilize technology and creative thinking to address challenges both, seen and unseen, in the sector. These teams demonstrated the type of thinking that will be necessary to enhance the customer experience.
The second round of the Hackathon will kick off in December 2021. The FinX22 platform will enable the screening, interaction, and collaboration among innovators and financial institutions, allowing them to crowdsource and prototype fintech solutions prospectively in Fintech Galaxy’s API Sandbox. It will promote partnerships and collaboration between established and startup fintech firms as well as leading banks from across the UAE.
Click here for the detailed report on Round 1 of the SCA Fintech Megathon