RHB hackathon drives customer-centric innovations

• Attracted 85 teams, 189 tech-savvy innovators to revolutionise banking experience
• Hackathon part of RHB’s commitment towards digital-first market offerings

WITH its grand finals concluded last week, RHB Banking Group’s first fully-virtual hackathon attracted 85 teams comprising of 189 digital and technology-savvy innovators with the goal on revolutionising customer banking experience through digital innovation.

RHB’s “Get Your Hack On” Hackathon saw individuals from various backgrounds that include first year university students, boutique web and applications development companies, full-stack developers and seasoned hackathon enthusiasts, the bank said in a statement.

The event centred on five problem statements specially designed to challenge participants in finding novel and innovative ways of improving customers’ digital banking experience, supporting the growing market for start-up companies, enhancing credit decisions, and scaling up digital initiatives, said RHB.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly changed consumer behaviour and the way business is being conducted, which necessitates the acceleration of digital transformation across various industries including banks,” said Rohan Krishnalingam, group chief digital & technology officer, RHB Banking Group (pic).

“The RHB ‘Get Your Hack On’ Hackathon allows us to tap into developing trends, putting us directly in touch with some of the brightest and upcoming local technology innovators while at the same time giving us the opportunity to create new talent pipeline and attract these innovative talents to be part of our digital team.”

The virtual hackathon was supported by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), and the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) as community partners.

The preliminary stages of the hackathon, conducted between June 11 and June 13, saw participants showcasing ideas and prototypes to a panel of 15 judges comprising technology and business specialists from RHB.

Also included were thought leaders and entrepreneurs from the Malaysian tech community.

This culminated with the Grand Finals held on June 19, where 18 teams battled for top honours.

“Active collaborative platforms between private and public sectors such as this will be crucial to ensure the success of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDigital) and in realising Malaysia 5.0,” said Surina Shukri, chief executive officer of MDEC.

She said MDEC will continue to catalyse innovation to increase our capabilities and capacities and today’s initiative, in collaboration with RHB Banking Group.

The RHB hackathon forms part of its commitment towards customer-centric solutions and experience via their several digital firsts in market offerings, RHB said.

These, include RHB MyHome App, which saw over 40% of all mortgage applications done through the app, and small and medium enterprise (SME) online financing which was launched in late 2018, said Rohan.

“As at March 2021, 2,800 applications were received through the SME online financing platform with a value of RM1.1 billion (US$265 million).

“To ensure that we are keeping up with this momentum, we target to deliver 150 Minimum Viable Products (MVP) under Agile @ Scale by December 2021, focusing on our Innovation agenda to further differentiate ourselves,” said Rohan.

RHB has committed US$48.2 million (RM200 million) towards implementing and enhancing its digital capabilities from 2018 to 2022.