On 7 January 2025, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the winners of the third edition of its global hackathon, HaRBInger 2024 – Innovation for Transformation, during a grand finale in Bengaluru. The event brought together innovators, industry leaders, and policymakers to celebrate groundbreaking technological solutions aimed at tackling financial fraud, FinTech and enhancing accessibility for differently-abled individuals.
The RBI launched HaRBInger 2024 on 7 June 2024, focusing on two themes: ‘Zero Financial Frauds’ and ‘Being Divyang Friendly.’ The hackathon encouraged participants to overcome four challenges: developing real-time fraud detection systems, ensuring transaction anonymity in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) systems, identifying mule bank accounts, and creating solutions for currency identification by visually impaired individuals. A special category was also introduced to honour the best all-women team, to enhance inclusivity and diversity in innovation.
The hackathon received an overwhelming response, with 534 proposals submitted, including 39 entries from international teams spanning the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Brazil, and other countries. The competition was conducted in three rigorous phases. Initially, 70 entries were shortlisted from the total submissions. This number was further reduced to 28 teams for the solution development phase, during which participants built prototypes over an eight-week period, supported by stipends and mentored by industry experts. The final phase saw these teams present their solutions to an independent jury during an evaluation held on 2-3 January 2025 in Bengaluru.
The winners of HaRBInger 2024 were recognised for their creativity, scalability, and practical applications to address systemic financial challenges. In the category of real-time fraud detection, FPL Technologies Pvt. Ltd. emerged victorious with their solution, ‘OneRadar.’ This fraud risk management system integrates consumer feedback, decision models, and expert reviews to deliver efficient fraud detection and prevention. For the challenge of ensuring transaction anonymity in CBDC systems, Xaults Technologies Pvt. Ltd. was declared the winner. Their innovative solution leverages Stealth Addresses and Zero-Knowledge Proofs to enable cash-like privacy in digital transactions.
The identification of mule bank accounts, a pressing issue in the financial sector, saw joint winners. Epifi Technologies Pvt. Ltd.’s ‘Satark’ created digital footprints using AI models to detect suspicious accounts in real time, while NapID Cybersec Pvt. Ltd.’s ‘Tager AI’ used Loop Tagging technology to identify unauthorised transactions and protect financial system integrity. For visually impaired individuals, joint winners H Vision India Pvt. Ltd. and Rupya Darshini introduced innovative solutions. H Vision India’s smart wallet detects banknotes using features like UV absorption and fluorescence, while Rupya Darshini developed a tactile, wallet-sized tool that helps users identify currency through Braille markings and geometric dimensions. In the all-women team category, VisAst received accolades for their lightweight wearable device capable of identifying currency notes and providing voice-based feedback.
The initiative progressed seamlessly from its announcement in June 2024 to the culmination of the hackathon in January 2025. Within seven months, the competition not only identified but also nurtured innovative solutions capable of addressing significant challenges in the financial sector. The eight-week solution development phase, supported by mentoring and stipends, ensured that participants could transform their ideas into tangible prototypes.
These innovative solutions address issues such as fraud prevention, transaction privacy, and accessibility for differently-abled individuals. Subject to compliance with regulatory requirements, these solutions hold immense potential for widespread adoption in the financial sector.
(Source: https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PressRelease/PDFs/PR462LAUNCHOFHARBINGER20244FB0839A530B491093A0CDFF95C38C95.PDF, https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=58059)
