Pan-African financial services firm Liberty has partnered business matchmaking service Matchi to launch the Liberty Fintech Challenge 2016, which will see shortlisted entries compete for a Proof of Concept (PoC) within the company.
Matchi previously partnered Sony Corporation to launch the Sony Fintech Innovation Challenge, offering startups the chance to win a PoC project with the multinational conglomerate.
It has now launched the Liberty Fintech Challenge 2016, with applications open until May 31. The challenge is calling for relevant, market-ready responses in two customer-focused categories: obtaining an insurance quote, and password-less authentification.
“In the retail business at Liberty we are now focusing all our efforts on our customers, and in particular our customer pain points,” said David Lloyd, managing director of Innovate at Liberty.
“The Liberty Fintech Challenge 2016 is our first step in sourcing existing solutions which we can adapt and modify to solve these pain points. We are excited to begin this journey in partnership with Matchi, to further innovate, expand our reach and access creative capacity from across the world.”
On the Matchi site, potential challenge respondents from around the world can see videos detailing exactly what Liberty the challenge is looking for, with prospective entrants able to sign up to submit an overview of their innovation.
Entries will be validated and individually scored against set criteria, such as novelty, ease of Implementation, and potential impact. The three highest ranking innovations in each category will have an opportunity to present their solution to a judging panel from Liberty on June 23, after which one winning innovation will be announced in each category to continue through to the PoC project phase.