The Next Chapter in Citi’s Story of Innovation

by: Jorge Ruiz

Note: This entry has been made under the success story chapter of the FinTech book. As a result the founder(s) and its company name may be used to illustrate their story.

There are a lot of recruiting efforts, developer programs and hackathons out there today, all racing to discover the next big thing in FinTech. Citi has taken a unique approach and is successfully fueling innovation through Citi Mobile Challenge, a next-generation accelerator program. It combines a virtual hackathon with a developer program, a worldwide network of FinTech experts, and the bank’s unparalleled global reach to discover and incubate solutions across more than 100 markets.

Citi Mobile Challenge launched in 2014 with programs in Latin America and the U.S., followed by a Challenge in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2015. This groundbreaking global initiative provides registered developers with a suite of tools (APIs) and selected participants are invited to present their concepts at Demo Day events in each region. Finalists from each program compete for an opportunity to take their technologies into production with Citi’s support, plus a share of $100,000 in cash awards and a suite of services from Citi Mobile Challenge sponsors.

With each iteration of the program, Citi Mobile Challenge and the FinTech ecosystem behind it has grown in leaps and bounds. It now includes thousands of developers across startups, universities and corporations as well as dozens of sponsoring companies. For the most recent Challenge, 66 partner companies including IBM, MasterCard and Uber, added even more value to developers through professional guidance, API’s, and awards packages. For the first time, other financial institutions — Allianz and Bank Hapoalim — also participated as sponsors.

Citi Mobile Challenge is connecting developers and resources in a way that is not happening often enough or quickly enough elsewhere in financial services. This is a new chapter in Citi’s 200-year legacy of innovation.

Editors Notes: This entry has been submitted to the FINTECH Book, the world’s 1st globally crowd-sourced book on FINTECH. Readers that enjoyed this initial abstract are invited to share and like it so that it may be featured in a longer version.

The FINTECH Book is due to be released in April 2016 and is available for Pre-Order on Amazon.