ICICI Bank launches virtual mobile app development challenge

ICICI Bank has launched a virtual mobile app development challenge, India’s largest mobile app development initiative by a bank. Christened ‘ICICI Appathon’, the programme aims to attract developers, technology companies, startups, technopreneurs and students to create the next generation of banking applications on mobile.

Hosted on the IBM Bluemix cloud based platform, 'ICICI Appathon' will offer a diverse set of over 50 APIs (Application Programme Interface) from ICICI Bank and its group companies namely ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance and ICICI Securities. As a first, payment APIs from 'Visa' and the 'Unified Payment Interface' API from NPCI will also be available for the app development challenge.

Visa and NPCI are the partners of 'ICICI Appathon.' Using these APIs, participants will have to create innovative working prototypes of mobile applications that provides a superior customer experience. Three 'ICICI Appathon' champions will be selected by a jury of eminent leaders from the BFSI segment and startups. All participants will be judged on five criteria that include uniqueness, functionality, business potential, user experience and scalability.