Kotak Fintech Mobility Hackathon

The emergent problem in the Indian growth story is cash transactions being the norm and accepted practice. Apart from needing to change the mind set of retailers and consumers alike to become open to non-cash transactions, what is equally important is that the current methods of digital payments in India do not encourage adoption. It is apparent that the current methods are not easy or seamless enough to substitute cash on a regular basis. It falls to those working in the intersection of finance and technology, to come up with innovative implementation of technology or processes that can enable cashless person to person payments on a real time basis.

It is said that the world will have more than 20 billion connected devices by the year 2020 and the moments of change are happening right now. Watches are measuring heart rates, mobile phone are bringing barometers, refrigerators are electronically talking to microwave ovens and your car is speaking to the light systems in your home.

All this is going to have a massive impact on our financial systems. Today, you can make a payment from an NFC chip on your mobile phone. And given the variety of devices that are artificially intelligent and communicative, the possibilities are endless. But all of this brings reliability and security problems. How can we leverage Wearable opportunity in Banking / Payment gateway / Security / Authentication? The playing ground is open for hackers. What can you build?

The ideal payment is such that happens with no user intervention. In the pursuit of that ideal, an acceptable compromise is minimal intervention. Current best practice is swiping of an NFC card to purchase a ticket at metro stations. The card needs to be removed from the equation. Bio metric authentication should be authorization enough, especially now that a central database exists with bio-data of citizens.
Two scenarios can be considered. In the first, travellers walk into the station, swipe their finger on a reader and pass through. In the second, travellers walk into the station, look at a marked point on the wall, and pass through. How can this be achieved?

How can you gamify any of Kotak Apps to attract younger generation and to increase engagement and improve User Experience? The field is open for ideas of all sorts. It's your move.

The earlier children are exposed to finances, the better prepared they will be for managing their finances in their adult lives. But the problem statement isn’t that simple anymore. Think of how technology has changed the way we do banking. Think of how financial systems work today and how they might change over time.

Build mobile solutions for Kotak's child users. Build an app for Kotak junior accounts? Or make educational applications for children to learn about finances. It's your call!