The USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and the Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine (NABU) announced a UAH 1.5 million FinTech Challenge to support financial inclusion in Ukraine. As Ukraine’s financial sector transitions to a digital future, it is imperative that Ukraine’s citizens become more financially literate, better protected from fraud and abuse, and more comfortable with digital products.
The Challenge is for developers and financial technology (FinTech) providers to develop, demonstrate, test and deploy digital solutions to problems of financial inclusion. Awards will be given out in three categories:
Challenge #1 - Financial Literacy: Tools to Equip Ukrainians with Practical Knowledge. The idea is to build a program that provides financial information in an informative and timely way so that Ukrainians can learn and seek financial advice on the go.
Challenge #2 – Solving Problems: A Platform for Handling Consumer Complaints. The goal is to create a digital application to report customer complaints to banks and financial companies, to monitor complaint handling, and to make regulators aware of problem areas.
Challenge #3 – Open Financial Inclusion Category. This challenge will focus on applications that support broader financial inclusion objectives, including financial services comparison tools, ratings, payments, lending to small businesses, and savings.
"USAID supports financial inclusion, meaning that citizens have access to useful and affordable financial services. We see the need in Ukraine to increase financial education and to transform the financial culture. To do this, we need new non-traditional technologies and teaching methodologies that the FinTech community can provide," emphasized Farhad Ghaussy, Director of the Office of Economic Growth, USAID/Ukraine.
NBU Deputy Governor Roman Borysenko stated, "Increase of financial awareness and inclusion are important drivers of the financial sector sustainability. The NBU considers that digitalization of financial services at all levels is an efficient way to raise financial inclusion in Ukraine, which is the NBU’s strategic goal for the next two years. We urge the world class Ukrainian IT and FinTech experts to develop digital solutions that will help improve financial literacy and consumer protection, and move Ukraine toward a cashless economy."
Roman Shpek, Chairman of Board of NABU, noted that the banking industry is moving to adopt new technologies to improve customer satisfaction, and said, "We are delighted to coordinate banking industry participation in this first-ever competition. Banks are perfectly aware of today’s challenges, encourage competition, and are ready for change. A huge share of their investments is directed specifically in IT, therefore when banks formed their strategies for this year they defined IT as the highest priority."
Proposals will be accepted until April 5, 2018. Panels of judges will determine the awardees, based upon proposals submitted and the presentations of the solutions by finalists. "Pitch" sessions for Finalists are tentatively scheduled for April 26, 2018, followed by an awards ceremony on April 27, 2018.
For contestant information on The FinTech Challenge Ukraine, see: http://gofintechua.info
Follow the Challenge on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FSTProject/
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The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth, and Democracy and Governance. Since 1992, USAID has provided $1.8 billion worth of technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. For additional information about USAID programs in Ukraine, please call USAID’s Development Outreach and Communications Office at: +38 (044) 521-5753 or visit: http://ukraine.usaid.gov.
The purpose of the USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project (October 2016 through December 2020) is to help transform the Ukrainian financial sector into a transparent, fair, and diversified system that supports businesses of all sizes and serves the needs of people. The Project supports financial sector reform in Ukraine and provides assistance in the following focus areas: building trust in the banking sector, increasing access to finance in the non-bank financial sector; expanding digital finance solutions; reforming the pension system; reaching out to vulnerable groups to better involve them in financial activities. The Financial Sector Transformation Project focuses on financial literacy and financial consumer protection to help consumers gain confidence, knowledge, information and protection necessary to expand the opportunities of full participation in financial markets.
For more information about USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project and its activities, please contact the Program’s Communications and Outreach Team at: +38( 044) 237-02-10. FTS Project Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FSTProject/