Bank of Baroda, IIT Gandhinagar Launch Hackathon 2026 to Develop Future Banking Solutions

Ahmedabad: Bank of Baroda has announced the launch of Hackathon 2026 in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar as part of the PSB Hackathon Series 2026 being organised under the guidance of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

The initiative aims to create an open innovation platform for students and alumni to develop technology-driven solutions addressing real-world banking and financial services challenges.

Bank of Baroda has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT Gandhinagar through its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IIEC) to jointly conduct the hackathon and promote collaboration between academia and industry.

Under the Hackathon series, the Bank and IIT Gandhinagar will work on a critical cybersecurity and fraud management challenge titled “Identity Trust, Protection & Safety.”

The challenge focuses on designing a privacy-first, risk-based identity trust framework capable of continuously validating customer and enterprise identities across digital banking channels.

According to the organisers, the proposed solutions are expected to intelligently detect high-risk events including anomalous user behaviour, suspicious onboarding attempts, new device usage, account recovery fraud and misuse of privileged access. The system is also expected to trigger real-time verification mechanisms whenever elevated risk levels are identified.

The initiative aims to strengthen digital banking security by reducing account takeover incidents, KYC fraud and insider misuse while ensuring secure, scalable and friction-optimised digital access for customers.

Speaking on the initiative, Sanjay V. Mudaliar, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda, said the collaboration reflects the growing importance of innovation-led partnerships between industry and academic institutions.

“Bank of Baroda believes innovation thrives when academia and industry come together to solve real-world challenges. Through Hackathon 2026, we aim to create a platform that empowers young innovators to develop impactful solutions that can redefine customer experience, strengthen digital capabilities and contribute to the evolving banking ecosystem,” he said.

He added that strengthening identity trust and cybersecurity frameworks would become increasingly critical as digital banking adoption continues to expand rapidly.

Rajat Moona, Director of IIT Gandhinagar, said the initiative would provide students and alumni an opportunity to apply technical expertise to practical industry challenges while contributing to India’s digital transformation journey.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Bank of Baroda on this initiative that encourages innovation, problem-solving and entrepreneurship among students and alumni,” he said.

The Hackathon will involve multiple stages of evaluation, mentorship and solution development before culminating in a grand finale where shortlisted teams will present their innovations before a jury comprising leaders from banking, technology and academia.

Bank of Baroda said the initiative aligns with its broader strategy of leveraging emerging technologies to build secure, customer-centric and future-ready banking solutions.

Founded in 1908, Bank of Baroda serves more than 180 million customers globally through approximately 65,000 touchpoints spread across 15 countries.