Supporting local tech talent and improving financial inclusion through hacksingapore
Social
18.7.2023
Started in 2022, hacksingapore has set about putting some of the nation’s top talent to work, tackling major thematic problems through the innovative use of technology.
For those who’ve not heard of it, hacksingapore is the national hackathon organised by AngelHack and supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). Developers, designers and entrepreneurs join forces and compete to build creative solutions. The most innovative ones are shortlisted, presented at the grand finale and the winning team for each theme gets $8,000.
When the opportunity for Trust to sponsor the Financial Inclusion theme for hacksingapore 2023 came up, we were thrilled. Nurturing young talent has always been important to us, and this was a chance to not only support Singapore’s budding tech entrepreneurs, but also explore how we can improve digital financial services.
The range and quality of the projects were amazing. They included a way to eliminate paper receipts in retail transactions through to a gamified approach to encouraging healthy saving habits through social media.
Our Chief Technology Officer, Srinivas Patil, giving the keynote speech on HackSocial Day 1
From a keynote address by our Chief Technology Officer, Srinivas Patil, at the opening event to mentoring and workshops by colleagues from various teams, experts from Trust jumped straight into the action, helping participants refine their solutions. After all, “iterate for 10x better” is in our DNA!
Participants consulting our mentors, Sourabh Pareek, Head of Mobile, and Stuart Loxton, Data Engineering Lead
Of course, it was also a great way for us to broaden our horizons by hearing fresh ideas and connecting on topics that we are all passionate about!
In an exciting finale, three teams presented their Financial Inclusion solution to a panel of experts that included Peter Lee, our Head of Delivery.
The winning hack? XIOHOO’s AI-powered fraud detection solution that answered our problem statement aimed at increasing consumers’ confidence to use digital financial services.
Team XIOHOO with Peter at the hacksingapore finals
Adrian Teo, XIOHOO’s team lead said: “The problem statement by Trust Bank struck a chord with us. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of scam cases, and scammers are coming up with really sophisticated ways to prey on people.”
To combat this, Adrian, together with Allan Tay and Chen Qingling, created a one-stop repository that helps consumers identify and report scams while recommending legitimate online deals utilising AI and big data.
Fun fact: the name “XIOHOO” is a Teochew word meaning “to help”. This was the goal of Adrian and Allan when they started XIOHOO as a social enterprise back in 2018.
XIOHOO aims to bridge the digital divide and help seniors navigate the world of tech through practical and affordable tech classes. Joined by Qingling who brings his developer know-how, the trio joined the hackathon to push the limits of their creativity and solve social issues close to their hearts
In the coming weeks, the team will continue to refine their solution and hope to make a version of it available to others they work with soon.
“The Trust team was inspired by the passion and out-of-the-box thinking of the hacksingapore participants. We’re rooting for them and can’t wait to see how their ideas and talent will drive change in the tech community for Singapore,” said Peter Lee, Head of Delivery.
