About the challenge

The Cornell FinTech Payments Innovations Hackathon is a 3-day hackathon from March 22-24, 2024 in the Ithaca, NY campus to inspire students to build payments-related projects. Sponsored by FinTech at Cornell, an Initiative of the SC Johnson College of Business, Broadridge, Ripple, and PayPal. Co-organized by FinTech at Cornell, an Initiative of the SC Johnson College of Business,  Cornell FinTech Club (undergrad), and Cornell High Tech Club (grad).

Get started

  • Participation as a hacker (building a project to win prizes) is open to undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell University.

  • Project teams (groups) can be anywhere from 4-5 students.

  • All projects have a hard deadline at 12 PM EST on Sunday, March 24th. We will be closing the form and we cannot accommodate late submissions. 

  • Please join the event Slack Channel via this link to communicate with team members, mentors, and get updates throughout the hackathon! 

  • Want the events on your calendar for ease? Please click this link to add the event Google Calendar.

  • Follow @cornellfintechclub on Instagram for more updates about the event!

  • Individual Registration Form: tinyurl.com/payments-hackathon 

    • Every attendee must register to attend through this form, including each team member

  • Team Confirmation Form: tinyurl.com/payments-team-signup 

    • For each team, please have 1 team member represent the team and submit this form ASAP by 12:00 PM EST on Saturday 3/23 to confirm your team's registration 

    • Team registration is important to be able to receive swag during distribution on Saturday 3/23 starting 10:30 AM

Requirements

What to Build

Main Tracks

Side Tracks

  • Best Beginner Hack ($750)

    • For the best team the meets the eligibility criteria

    • Eligibility to enter for this track: teams consisting of all first-time hackers

  • Best Design ($750)

    • For the team with the project that has the best UX/UI design

  • Best Startup Idea - previously titled “Most Promising Startup Idea” ($750)

    • Is your project a startup or you’d like to pursue it as a startup? If so, present a business plan (this is an additional deliverable that must be submitted as a PDF or slides link).

What to Submit

Submissions are due by 12 PM on Sunday, March 24th via this form.

  • Submission details include team name, PDF of slides, github repo and/or wireframes link if available

Teams will present a 2-3 minute presentation with 1-2 minute Q&A in Warren Hall 401 starting 12:30 PM EST on Sunday, March 24th.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$10,250 in prizes
Best Overall - 1st Place
1 winner

$3000 prize for 1 team. This is for the best team out of all teams.

Best Overall - 2nd Place
1 winner

$2000 prize for 1 team. This is for the 2nd best team out of all teams.

Best Digital Wallet Hack
1 winner

$1000 prize for 1 team.

Best Stablecoin Hack
1 winner

$1000 prize for 1 team.

Best Ripple XRPL Challenge Hack
1 winner

$1000 prize for 1 team.

Best Beginner Hack
1 winner

$750 prize for 1 team. This is for the best team that meets the eligibility criteria: a team must consist of all first-time hackers aka this hackathon is each team member's first time participating in a hackathon.

Best Design
1 winner

$750 prize for 1 team. This is for the team that has the best UX/UI design.

Best Startup Idea
1 winner

$750 prize for 1 team. This is for the team that has the best/most promising startup idea. Is your project a startup or you’d like to pursue it as a startup? If so, present a business plan (this is an additional deliverable that must be submitted as a PDF or slides link).

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Dan Wallace

Dan Wallace
Ripple

Rob Krugman

Rob Krugman
Broadridge

Aviad Stein

Aviad Stein
Broadridge

Bryan Wachs

Bryan Wachs
Broadridge

Mehak Jethmalani

Mehak Jethmalani
PayPal

Judging Criteria

  • Clarity and innovation of the concept
  • Feasibility and thoughtfulness
  • Creativity and user-centeredness of the UX design
  • Originality and potential impact of the proposed innovative features
  • Quality and persuasiveness of the presentation

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Tell your friends

Hackathon sponsors

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.