Global hackathon to improve cross-border payments by using ISO 20022 and APIs

Hackathon to highlight potential of the new ISO 20022 payments standard and APIs to enhance cross-border payments. Teams invited to submit solutions by 19 March.

The BIS Innovation Hub and SWIFT have launched a new ISO 20022 hackathon and invite teams to build and showcase solutions that enhance cross-border payments, using the ISO 20022 standard for payments messages and application programming interfaces (APIs).  

The ISO 20022 Hackathon, which is open for registration until 8 March, aims to highlight the potential of ISO 20022, which is being adopted by large parts of the world’s payment infrastructures over the next four years. Teams can adapt an existing product to make use of ISO 20022 or build and demonstrate new solutions leveraging ISO 20022 and APIs using SWIFT’s API sandbox.

Three winning teams will showcase their solutions at the BIS Innovation Summit in March to a global audience including key payments industry players and central bankers.

„This joint hackathon with SWIFT shows how the BIS Innovation Hub can promote the smoother and more inclusive functioning of the global financial system by promoting the adoption of key standards,” said Benoît Cœuré, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub.

„A next step-change in the evolution of payments will come from enabling rich, quality data through the adoption of ISO 20022 and a thriving API ecosystem in financial services. We are excited to be working with the BIS Innovation Hub to host this Hackathon and look forward to discovering even more creative solutions that can take advantage of the power of ISO 20022 and APIs to transform financial services,” said Tom Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer at SWIFT.

As part of the event, teams can also participate in a SWIFT masterclass to understand the benefits and complexities of adopting ISO 20022 and APIs in retail and wholesale payments.

Interested teams should register by Monday, 8 March at:  https://iso20022hackathon.hackerearth.com/

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Timeline:

8 March: deadline for initial proposals;

11/12 March: kick-off sessions for successful applicants;

19 March: deadline for submission of solutions;

23-25 March: winners announced at the BISIH Innovation Summit

Solutions will be judged by a panel including experts from the European Central Bank, Bank of England, Federal Reserve System, SWIFT, Innovate Finance (UK), CPMI, Payments Canada, New Payments Platform (Australia), Swish (Sweden) and DBS Bank (Singapore).