This week UniCredit – together with ABC accelerator – is launching the first UniCredit Hackathon CEE, a global competition that will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 2 and 3 September 2017.

The Hackathon, or marathon of hacking, is an intensive continuous two-day competition of innovative and creative individuals. Divided into groups they will be asked to solve different challenges arising from PSD2 (The Revised Payment Services Directive) (note 1). External developers, representatives of Fintech Start-ups and Software Companies, future “out of the box” thinkers, together with employees of UniCredit that will apply to the initiative, will join forces to develop ideas on how to create value for clients and the bank  in the context of PSD2.

UniCredit is committed in keeping the bank at the forefront of innovation and wants to inspire solutions that will further improve customer experience.

Carlo Vivaldi, Head of CEE Division at UniCredit, said: “We believe innovation is essential for the long term sustainability of a bank’s business and for a better interaction between the bank and its clients. UniCredit’s strategic plan Transform 2019 puts innovation at the center of its actions to transform the operational model of the bank in order to adapt to fast changing customers’ behavior and new regulatory requirements. In this context, UniCredit Hackathon CEE allows UniCredit to leverage on its leadership position in Central & Eastern Europe as well as further strengthen its business in the region. It will attract young talents from inside and outside the bank crafting and designing new applicable solutions”.   

Urska Jez, co-founder of ABC and managing director ABC Slovenia, added: Companies worldwide are searching for efficient ways to transform themselves. Together with startups they look for solutions to make business in a more innovative, transparent and agile way. Successful projects these days combine both worlds. And this is what our cooperation with UniCredit is all about and why we created this program, starting with a hackathon. UniCredit has shown a huge engagement in following the world's trends and is proactively listening to its customers, detecting their needs and making sure it delivers them relevant products and services. By involving also internal resources in the event, the Group shows a great commitment to innovation. I believe that with this approach and dedication UniCredit Hackathon CEE will have a wide, positive impact on the group and make UniCredit a trendsetter in digitalization in CEE and beyond.

Leveraging on new PSD2 regulation, the task of the Hackathon will be: “How can we use client´s account information to create value?” This means developing, for example, platforms for analysis of client data with the aim to provide a better customer experience.

Participants from all over the world can apply from 17th July to 24th August at:

 www.abc-accelerator.com/UniCreditHackathonCEE   

Winning teams will receive a financial award and get a chance to present their projects to the top management of UniCredit Group’s CEE Division on September 7th in Ljubljana. Members of the winning teams could be then  invited to participate in the implementation phase of the solution at a later stage.

About UniCredit

UniCredit is a simple successful Pan European Commercial Bank, with a fully plugged in CIB, delivering a unique Western, Central and Eastern European network to our extensive client franchise: 25 million clients.

UniCredit  offers local expertise as well as an international one reaching and supporting its clients globally, providing them with unparalleled access to leading banks in its 14 core markets as well as in other 18 countries worldwide. UniCredit European banking network includes Italy, Germany, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Serbia,  Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey.

About ABC

ABC Accelerator is the largest private venture accelerator in Slovenia and the wider region. It has been established in 2015 and has since accelerated the growth of almost 100 start-ups – companies that are changing the economy and growing faster than traditional companies. ABC Accelerator has developed a system for accelerating the growth of start-ups with innovative ideas and help them succeed on the market. Now, ABC is also helping to change small, medium and large corporations with its enterprise program, spreading the startup mentality to traditional companies. We help big companies exploit the potential of new ideas originating from both, inside and outside of their companies. The combination of very fast growth and new, innovative ideas from the startups and knowledge, investments and people available to large corporations has arguably the greatest potential to disrupt the existing markets.

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Additional media information:

Victoria Blajeva, tel +359 (0) 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Beatris Nikolova, tel +359 (0) 2 9232 528, cfbusjt/ojlpmpwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, tel +359 894 518 193 , flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch