NAB and Fishburners partner for fintech hackathon

Everyone from politicians to large corporates are embracing hackathons, and now NAB is getting in on the act.

After announcing a partnership with Australia’s largest coworking space Fishburners earlier this month, NAB will be holding a fintech hackathon there in November.

The NAB Hackathon Challenge will involve entrepreneurs, developers and designers attempting to create an innovative answer to one of two broad questions:

–          What will the management of money look like in 2020?

–          Using the data, digital channels, platforms and partnerships which power NAB’s existing financial services business what other adjacent opportunities could NAB support or enable?

While the advantages for NAB being involved with projects like this are obvious, Fishburners general manager Murray Hurps says it’s also a chance for entrepreneurs to discover new problems that need solving.

“Startups will only target markets they’re aware of, and often aren’t solving problems because they just aren’t aware of the opportunities,” Hurps says.

“It’s a pretty incredible time at the moment, and I’m extremely proud to be partnering with NAB on this initiative.

“It’s hard to imagine a better first customer for a startup, and it’s great to see an organisation that genuinely wants to help new startups get off the ground.”

A $10,000 cash prize is on offer for the winning team, while second place will net you $5000.

The winning team will also have the chance to commercialise the idea with NAB and receive mentoring.

The hackathon will take place from 27-29 November, and the judges will be Hurps, NAB Labs executive general manager Jon Davey, UBank CEO Lee Hatton, NAB general manger of wealth digital and direct service Anne Benne and an as-yet unnamed venture capitalist.

It seems like a whole bunch of corporates are quickly trying to jump on the startup bandwagon, but Hurps says NAB is partnering with the sector in the right way.

“I’ve seen a lot of corporate innovation programs, and NAB’s really is unique,” he says.

“They’re not just trying to find ideas. They’re not working in a bubble.

“They genuinely want to support new startups to help them deliver better experiences to NAB customers.”

Applications are now open for the NAB hackathon.

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