A team of three business undergraduate students won the Tencent Fintech Competition on 27 October 2020. Janice Leung (Professional Accountancy, Year 2), Sonam Chophel Wangchuk (Integrated BBA, Year 4), and Jane Wong (Quantitative Finance, Year 1), formed the winning team, team Stargazers, and impressed the panel of judges with their insightful and innovative solution, and take home the Champion title.

This year, the case competition was themed “Tech for Good”, and focused on solutions related to financial inclusion, including financial products for virtual banks, electronic identification, financial connectivity in the Greater Bay Area, and the acceleration of the digital transformation of payments scenarios and optimisation of customer experience.

Over 60 student teams from different regions in the Greater Bay Area had entered the competition. The CUHK team was amongst the shortlisted teams to enter the final round of the competition and take home the winning title.

Undergraduate Office (UGO) interviewed with Team Stargazers on their outstanding achievements during the Fintech Competition 2020.

Interviewer:
Undergraduate Office, CUHK Business School (UG)

Interviewee:
Jane Wong, Team Stargazers

UGO:  What was the format of the competition?

Team Stargazers:
We had to submit our proposal for the screening process by Tencent executives. Upon being shortlisted, we attended four training sessions on the FinTech industry, product design, pitching and UI/UX, where we also consulted the HKSTP/HKMA and Tencent executives privately.

The final round was made up of two parts: the FinTech Challenge Day and pitching. We worked on a financial fraud case and played the role of a virtual bank who wrongfully transferred funds up to HKD$5 million to an e-wallet system. Our challenge involved communicating with the e-wallet company and the monetary authority prior to the press conference. A judge continuously evaluated our progress on our teamwork and problem-solving abilities.

UGO:  Which topic did you choose, and how did you prepare your solution?

Team Stargazers:
Out of the five topics, we chose “Recommendation(s) on the promotion of financial connectivity in the Greater Bay Area.”

We had a rigorous meeting schedule, brainstorming our solution and working on refining the details. Our versatile team meant a lot of ideas being thrown around and cohesion to figure out a feasible implementation method. We delegated the proposal work among ourselves based on our strengths; Sonam worked on our visuals and market analysis, Janice outlined the process and organising our ideas to build the product concept, and Jane on the UI/UX and proposal publishing.

UGO: What was the training session and consultation session like?

Team Stargazers:
The training sessions helped us in terms of better understanding TFA and Tencent’s vision for GBA as well as how the experienced professionals think when launching a product. It was incredibly inspiring to hear from a well-established conglomerate. During the consultation sessions, we raised our concerns, legality and risk wise, about the feasibility of our product. The consultants guided us through case studies and critical areas to enhance our solution.

UGO: Please share with us your team’s reflections / take-away from the competition?

Team Stargazers:
One of the judges commented, “We should create something for the future. Not for an existing problem in which solutions are probably already under construction… Our ideas now might not turn out the way they are now.”

The statement resonated with a lot of our concerns on the feasibility of our product. It gave us a sense of hope that our solutions could come into fruition through different channels.

UGO: Any remarkable/exciting moments during the competition?

Team Stargazers:
It was enjoyable to work under pressure with my teammates, who share the same thinking style. We spoke little to no words but knew unanimously what had to be done. We were all very understanding and supportive of each other. We were able to express our concerns, corrections to each other directly, knowing that the other will listen. Being announced Champions was unbelievable, and we shared the same joy walking onto the stage.

UGO: Thank you, Team Stargazers, for the interview. We look forward to hearing from your next success!