'BML Hackathon' announced under series of initiatives leading up to 40th anniversary

Bank of Maldives (BML) has announced its Innovation Lab Hackathon, as part of BML’s series of 12 high-impact monthly community initiatives leading up to its 40th anniversary to be celebrated in November 2022.

The country’s national bank revealed that the ‘BML Hackathon’ will be held under the theme of developing ‘Banking Solutions to Enhance Customer Experience’ to select participants for its new Innovation Lab.

Teams and individuals can register for the hackathon to develop innovative fintech ideas and solutions to enhance customer experience and operational excellence.

The 48-hour hackathon is the 12th project launched under the initiative and will begin at 2pm, October 14. The event will be launched at Hotel Jen.

BML revealed that registration is limited to 50 participants and is open on a first-come-first-serve basis.

BML will be selecting three winning teams to visit the bank’s Innovation Lab to develop their winning ideas over a period of six months, where they will be provided with a furnished private working space to use as an office, a monthly allowance of MVR 20,000 for each team and a long-term maintenance contract of the developed solution.

The country’s national bank launched its scholarship fund during November 2021 as a first of the series, where fully funded international scholarships for three students in the area of Banking and Finance will be provided every year. Open to all, the fund carries the purpose of developing talented young Maldivians in the field.

The second event was the refurbishment and upgrading of the Maldives National Library, announced in December 2021.

The third event, launched in January 2022, is the ‘Startup Grant Fund’, that will pave the way for emerging entrepreneurs to win a grant funding to start or grow a business in the Maldives.

BML launched the ‘Housing Grant’ as the fourth initiative in February this year, with an aim to support vulnerable families by building and furnishing houses for three underprivileged families across the country.

Fifth came the ‘Small Grants’ initiative which was launched in March, through which eight winning projects will be selected to win a grant of MVR 250,000 each, to implement their plan successfully.

The sixth initiative was launched in April, through which the Home for People with Special Needs (HPSN) in Guraidhoo island of Kaafu atoll will be refurbished and upgraded. The work is now reported to be underway.

The seventh initiative came on June 1; ‘Kindly by BML’ is the first of its kind online fundraising platform launched in the Maldives.

The ‘BML Fehi Project’ was launched as the eighth initiative under the series, during June. The project will see 50,000 trees being planted on an annual basis, across the entire Maldives. ‘BML Fehi Project’ will be carried out for five years and each year, five islands will be selected to receive 10,000 plants sourced from local nurseries, to “reforest” and “rejuvenate” land spaces in islands, that have been identified for greening.

The ninth initiative the bank launched was the project to support the national museum, announced in July. Through the project, BML will support the care, preservation and display of the National Museum’s collection.

The tenth initiative was launched in August, under which BML will be establishing a dedicated Oncology Ward at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

In September, BML launched its ‘Sports Scholarship’ as the 11th initiative, through which BML will be providing three fully funded scholarships for top national athletes to train and develop at recognized high performance training centers worldwide.