The Grand Finale of FinShield Hackathon 2025 was concluded  successfully at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) on 2nd and 3rd September 2025.  This Hackathon is organized by Bank of India (BoI) in collaboration with IIT Hyderabad. This  initiative was powered by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance,  Government of India, and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). The event is an initiative of Government  of India to strengthen the collaboration between public sector banks, educational institutions, and  students to foster innovation, prototype development and entrepreneurship in the banking and  financial sector.  

The Bank has identified the following two problem statements and invited presentations / possible  solutions from students across India. 

1. Credit Risk Management Model using alternative data for probability of default, search, and tracking of  defaulters.  

2. Detection of impersonated registrations/frauds in mobile & internet banking with behaviour based user authentication and password-less login solutions. 

The hackathon received an overwhelming response with 661 applications from students across India.  From these, 72 teams were shortlisted for Phase 2 and presented their solutions on 2nd September  2025. Of them, 18 teams advanced to the final round. An esteemed panel of industry leaders evaluated  the entries and selected the top three teams for each problem statement. The prize money for the 1st,  2nd, and 3rd positions was ₹5.00 lakhs, ₹3.00 lakhs, and ₹2.00 lakhs respectively. 

Winners of the event: 

Problem statement 1: Credit Risk Management Model using alternative data for probability of  default, search, and tracking of defaulters.  

1st prize:  

Doom n Gloom, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy, Andhra Pradesh 

2nd Prize:  

ActionKamen, Gautam Buddha University, State : Delhi, 

3rd Prize : 

Finclusion, Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka 

Problem statement 2 : Detection of impersonated registrations/frauds in mobile & internet  banking with behaviour-based user authentication and password-less login solutions 1st Prize: 

Jigyasa, Indian Institute of Information Technology Kottayam, Kerala

2nd Prize 

Vajra, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala 

3rd Prize 

Team Kavach, Indian Institute of Information Technology Kottayam, Kerala 

Dignitaries & Key Remarks: 

The final of the event took place on 3rd September 2025. Prof. B S Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad  has chaired the function. Top Executives of Bank of India –Shri Sudhiranjan Padhi, CGM IT & CIO,  Shri P Hari Kishan, CGM and CRO, along with officials from IDRBT, IBA and IIT Hyderabad have  graced the occasion. 

Shri Sudhiranjan Padhi, CGM IT & CIO, Bank of India delivered the welcome address and said  “Finshield Hackathon has provided the students a launching pad to showcase their talent. The huge  pan-India participation demonstrated that young and bright minds are eager to solve challenges faced  by banking industry. The solutions were evaluated based on innovation, technical feasibility, business  potential, scalability and user experience. We are delighted that the students came out with excellent  AI/ML based solutions for credit risk model based on alternate data sources and to provide seamless  authentication for digital transactions.” 

In his keynote address, Prof. B S Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad – emphasized that “Hackathons like FinShield provide an excellent platform for young innovators to develop real-world  solutions that can revolutionize industries such as FinTech and cybersecurity. Encouraging such  initiatives at the student level nurtures innovation, enhances digital capacity building, and strengthens  the bridge between academia and industry, ensuring that research translates into real-world impact  for a digitally empowered nation.” 

Shri Ashutosh Mishra, GM & Chief Fintech Officer, Bank of India delivered the vote of thanks  with special mention of support and guidance provided from DFS & IBA for organising hackathon. 

Prof. Sobhan Babu, Coordinator at IIT Hyderabad, informed the media that the hackathon acted as a  national platform, enabling students and young innovators to tackle critical challenges in digital  banking and risk management, while offering banks access to fresh, innovative solutions