The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Thursday launched the Global Fintech Hackcelerator @ Southern Africa 2019 competition and called on fintech firms to submit their innovative and sustainable solutions to challenges identified within the financial services industry.

Applications will close at midnight on September 8. Interested applicants are invited to view the problem statements and complete an application form, both of which are available at https://matchi.biz/hackceleratorSA.

The Global Fintech Hackcelerator, powered by KPMG Matchi, is a fintech acceleration programme that creates a platform for fintech firms to demonstrate their innovative solutions to complex financial challenges in the Southern African region.

Fintech firms from anywhere in the world can apply to participate in the programme.

The SARB views such global fintech acceleration programmes as enabling processes to embrace fintech, while affording the opportunity for regulators to appraise benefits and risks in a balanced manner.

Shortlisted respondents will be invited to showcase their solutions at the Southern African Demo Day, in Johannesburg, on October 29.

The demo day will seek to explore sustainable financial services innovations that must address real-world financial services challenges.

A panel of judges from the SARB and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, along with local industry experts, will select and announce two winning solutions.

Each Global Fintech Hackcelerator @ Southern Africa 2019 winner will receive a stipend towards travel expenses to attend the 2019 Singapore Fintech Festival; get an opportunity to pitch their solution live during the Hackcelerator Demo Day at the 2019 Singapore Fintech Festival and engage with industry experts; receive funding to develop a contextualised proof of concept, to be deployed within a year from the demo day; and work with high-value corporates to contextualise a solution to their needs, while obtaining market entry into the Singapore and Asia-Pacific region.

Over and above the Global Fintech Hackcelerator @ Southern Africa gains, the top three winners at the Singapore Fintech Festival will each receive a cash prize.