Banks, Financial Services, Funds, Good for Business, Innovations, Markets and Companies, Technology

A £5 million prize fund is on offer and it is looking for 20 entries from anywhere in the world that will use open banking APIs – “newly available from early 2018”.

The Open Up Challenge is a £5m challenge prize by Nesta at the forefront of open banking.

To win, you’ll build next-generation services, apps and tools that create game-changing value for UK small businesses. You’ll use new open banking APIs to transform how they discover, access and use business-critical financial services. Prizes will go to the 20 teams from anywhere in the world whose ideas and execution could shape the future of small business banking.

Winners will receive:

• Cash awards – a £50,000 grant up-front each and a share of a further £3.5 million if successful during the challenge;
• Exclusive access to the “Open Up Data Sandbox” containing one of the “largest anonymised UK banking transaction datasets ever made available”;
• Fully funded technical and business support, ranging from user experience to legal and regulatory guidance.
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Nesta says the challenge is part of a package of retail banking reforms which are recommended by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The challenge is open to developer teams, start-ups, or established companies from anywhere in the world whose concept may be at idea stage or could be more advanced. Applications are now open! The closing date is 31 May 2017.