SARB, BIS Launch 2025 G20 TechSprint Challenge

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), in collaboration with the BIS Innovation Hub and under the G20 Presidency, has announced the 2025 edition of the Global TechSprint Competition. The event invites developers worldwide to submit innovative technological solutions addressing trust and integrity in scalable and open finance.

This year’s competition focuses on three key challenges: verifiable digital identity, consumer-consented credit data portability, and mitigation of fraud and cyber risks. Developers have until 20 June 2025 to submit their proposals.

Winners in each of the three categories stand a chance to win awards of up to $30 000, while shortlisted teams will receive a stipend of approximately $5000. Finalists will develop their solutions over an eight-week period and present them to national authorities and invited industry experts.

The three problem statements identified for this year’s TechSprint are:

Digital identity solutions: Establish trust among financial institutions through innovative, verifiable, and privacy-preserving digital identity technologies.
Credit data portability: Improve the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to finance through secure, consumer-consented data exchange solutions that facilitate seamless cross-border sharing of credit information.
Solutions to mitigate fraud and cyber risks: Drive wider adoption of fast payment systems globally — and promote financial inclusion and economic growth —through technology designed to reduce fraud and cyber risks.

Developers are encouraged to submit their technology solutions to one or more of the outlined problem statements. Interested participants can register here.