NUS FinTech society organized its first ever annual full month fintech events open to university and poly students from all disciplines in January 2021 at the National University of Singapore.
The highlight of the event was a hackathon that required participants to address the problem statement provided by BNP Paribas. The theme focused on anti-fraud detection within a multi-market, multi-entity corporate environment, given the increased risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge was to find ways for corporations to detect fraud in a digital or hybrid operating environment.
The hackathon was judged by Mr. Kok Wai, Hon, Director of Product Management, Transaction Banking (Asia Pacific) from BNP Paribas, who also participated in the opening of the event.
In addition to the hackathon, the NUS FinTech Society organized a series of workshops from 15 to 20 January 2021, covering various topics related to the fintech industry.
The first workshop, titled “Why Crowdfunding is the Preferred Choice for Startup Fundraising,” was presented by Mr. Daniel Lin, Founder of FundedHere. He discussed how modern technology has changed the fundraising process and how crowdfunding has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional fundraising. He highlighted the advantages of crowdfunding, such as instant document verification and multiple payment gateways, which have made transferring money easy and instantaneous.
The second workshop, “Introduction to Decentralized Finance (DeFi),” was shared by Jeff Zhang, Binance Community Manager. He discussed the technology behind DeFi and its challenges to traditional banking. He highlighted the explosive growth of DeFi, with its total value locked exploding from almost US$700M at the start of 2020 to US$15B by the end of the year.
The third workshop, “BSC Stream Transformation with ParsiQL,” was conducted by Mr. Anatoly Ressin, Chief Blockchain Architect at ParsiQL. He shared insights into how blockchain technologies have revolutionized finance and security, and how Parsiq’s stream manipulation language can be used to interpret and transform live data streams.
The fourth workshop, “Innovation and Design Thinking: Perspective from BNP Paribas,” was conducted by Mr. Kok Wai, Hon, who introduced BNP Paribas’ innovative work in banking transactions and design-thinking labs. He shared various case studies and highlighted the importance of co-creation and collaboration to solve various corporate problems, emphasizing the best ways to access these collaborative tools effectively.
The NUS Fintech hackathon 2021 provided an excellent opportunity for participants to learn about the fintech industry through a range of activities, including workshops and hackathons. Attendees gained valuable insights into the industry, with some getting introduced to fintech for the first time, while others explored more advanced topics like machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The NUS Fintech Society expressed their sincere gratitude to all the participants for their active participation in NUS Fintech month, which resulted in an amazing turnout of attendees. The society hopes that the event was able to provide participants with useful skills that they can apply in their professional careers.
Overall, the NUS Fintech hackathon 2021 was a successful event that brought together individuals from various backgrounds and interests to explore the fintech industry. The NUS Fintech Society looks forward to future events that will continue to educate and inspire participants in this dynamic and rapidly evolving field.
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