Developers from around the world will compete for $100,000 during the MasterCard ‘Masters of Code’ hackathon grand finale in San Francisco on December 4 and 5. The event tasks coders, developers, designers and entrepreneurs to create new consumer payments solutions featuring MasterCard APIs.
The event features some very interesting payment-related startups that seek to change the niche aspects of payments. Here are the five exciting payment startups participating in MasterCard’s Hackathon:
Cointr
Cointr is a digital piggy bank that allows users to save money by topping-up their coin change into their digital wallet in any MasterCard RePower enabled location. The wallet tracks their progress and sets targets. There is also a social spin because friends and family can also get involved by contributing to the goal: be it raising money for a charity or to buy a product. It looks to be an interesting way of getting rid of those pesky coins behind your sofa.
Master Your Card
As technology advances, handing over a £5 note looks like an inefficient way of managing your children’s finances. The team at Master Your Card has created a system where parents can supervise, but more importantly, educate their children on the best way to manage and spend the money. The kids get an e-allowance and parents can approve or stop their spending proposals.
WeBUSKING
A futurologist once told PaymentEye that to test how easy a payment method is, one should imagine trying to use it to pay a busker or a homeless man in the street. Throwing a £1 coin into a hat is the easiest thing, but making digital payments is still not there yet. However, that looks like it’s about to change with weBUSKING. The Tel Aviv-based startup creates a crowdfunding-esque platform for street performers to live-stream their performance and for viewers to donate money online.
Mobil Bayi
Gameification is becoming quite the small trend in the world of FinTech. Mobil Bayi is a Turkish startup that allows users to load money on any NFC based transportation card. One can also see the balance on the card and top it up if more money is needed. There are mini games in the app that users can play during their journey and earn free credits that can also be used via the contactless card.
FareShare
One of the best consequences of the FinTech evolution is the flexibility and ease with which people can split the costs of things. Apps like Uber rose to prominence precisely because it made it very easy for people to split the cab-fare. The Canadian startup FareShare automatically gets the user’s purchase history and lets them choose which expenses to share with each friend. When they’re ready to settle up, a simple button press will pay your share with MasterCard MoneySend.
Whitepapers
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