UIR, CIH Bank Conclude 3-Day Hackathon with Innovative Student Projects

Rabat – The International University of Rabat (UIR) and CIH Bank concluded this weekend the latest edition of the Hackathon CIH Bank x UIR, a three-day competition dedicated to financial innovation, digital solutions, and youth entrepreneurship. 

Held from December 5 to 7 at the UIR campus, the event brought together 14 student teams who worked intensively with innovation experts, mentors, and banking professionals to design and pitch groundbreaking solutions for Morocco’s evolving financial landscape.

Organized by UIR’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in partnership with CIH Bank, the hackathon focused on key themes such as financial inclusion for youth, intelligent budgeting and digital savings, banking digitalization, and solutions for students, freelancers, and micro-entrepreneurs. Teams were challenged to deliver high-impact ideas aligned with the bank’s strategic priorities and Morocco’s digital transformation goals.

Winning projects

After an intensive final pitching session, three standout projects emerged as winners.

The first place went to Cashpital, a socially driven financial solution designed to support Moroccan families during vulnerable moments. Through the CIH Social+ mobile application, citizens can instantly access advances related to health, funeral costs, survivor pensions, micro-credit, or salary advances directly into their CIH e-wallets, without travel or delays.

A complementary CIH Social+ Admin dashboard enables CIH Bank to analyze requests, validate them in real time, and coordinate with the CNSS. An intelligent scoring system ensures quick, fair, and reliable decision-making.

Speaking after the win, Ayoub Faqraoui, Big Data & AI student at UIR, told MWN: “Our team chose the theme of health and vulnerability… Our goal is not to make money with CIH, but to support vulnerable people, helping them access care, maintain good health, and benefit from a banking system that simplifies their daily needs.”

Second place went to “Dayra,” which offers an integrated financial platform addressing the challenges young Moroccans face with irregular income, cash-flow instability, and limited access to credit.

The solution includes Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) tools, instant P2P transfers, digital “daret” savings circles, automated savings features, and a gig marketplace to help users earn income. All services are secured and powered by CIH Bank infrastructure.

Meanwhile, third place went to “TalabaHouse,” which aims to revolutionize housing for Morocco’s 1.3 million university students by matching roommates based on lifestyle habits while offering secure, CIH-powered payments. The platform provides verified listings, escrow-protected deposits, and automated cost-sharing tools.

Team member Zainab Lakhal, a fifth-year cybersecurity student, shared her experience and explained to MWN that their project aims to make it easier for students and young professionals to find housing and roommates. “The process was intense but truly fun. We thank CIH and UIR for this amazing hackathon and we are grateful to all the mentors who supported us,” she added.

A collaborative innovation ecosystem

Omaima Abouelfath, Entrepreneurship and Incubation Manager at UIR’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, spoke to Morocco World News (MWN) about the extensive preparation behind the event.

She explained that the hackathon was the result of extensive collaboration between the university’s academic teams and CIH Bank’s innovation department. She noted that the process began long before the event itself, involving idea sourcing, project selection, team structuring, and detailed operational planning.

“Over the course of three intensive days, we supported the participants by challenging their ideas, refining their solutions, and confronting them with the realities of the banking sector,” Abouelfath stated.

She added that the most promising projects will then be integrated into UIR’s incubation programs to be transformed into well-structured startups with strong potential.

Echoing this vision, Mohsine Bouya, General Manager of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UIR, emphasized the institution’s long-term commitment. “We are very happy that all projects were good ones and that our students developed new solutions responding to CIH Bank’s needs,” he told MWN. 

Bouya said that UIR’s focus is to develop digital innovation with their students, adding, “Our incubator is ready to help them grow their solutions on our 2000-square-meter platform. The most important thing is to identify their idea here and help them go to the market by creating their startup.

In addition to showcasing the creativity and technical skills of UIR students, the Hackathon also aimed to reinforce the strategic partnership between UIR and CIH Bank around open innovation and digital transformation in the financial sector.

Bringing together young talent, banking professionals, and academic experts sought to stimulate entrepreneurship, co-create impactful solutions, and identify high-potential startups that can be incubated and scaled within UIR’s innovation ecosystem.