Competitions have always given a unique platform for students to apply their theoretical knowledge into practical contexts. With changing technology and the changing customer choices, it is important for every institution to bring in those changes. Even though banks and other similar institutions have similar and routine tasks, it is still important to bring in innovative changes in their products and services to serve their customers better. One such competition that attempted to provide a platform for students to showcase innovative business and promotional idea for banks is Woori Idea Fest 2018.
About the event and its grand finale
Woori Idea Fest 2018 was organised by Woori Bank Bangladesh. The goal of the event was to recognise innovative business idea that can be implemented by financial institutions. Woori Bank has been operating in Bangladesh for 22 years. This was the first time Woori Bank hosted such a business idea competition with the slogan "Light up your idea, be the pioneer".
Recently on December 13, Woori Idea Fest 2018's grand finale was held at Lakeshore in Gulshan 2-Dhaka from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm. All the 12 finalists presented their ideas to the judges from BIBM and Woori Bank. The finalist teams showed that there are innovative ideas that can boost up the offerings and performance of the services offered by the financial institutions. This will have a positive impact on the society, in general. They shared their ideas which were about e-payment, agriculture loans, daily expenses, virtual class room method, connector of startups and banks, etc.
The theme of the grand finale was "Innovative business and promotional idea for banks in Bangladesh". All the participants of the grand finale were from four universities - University of Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University, North South University and East West University. The idea that won the Championship was ‘EduBank’. It was about the one stop tuition fee payment portal. Through the app, students will be able to pay their tuition fees with affiliation of a bank. Mashahed Hassan Simanta from Jahangir Nagar University won a cash prize of Tk 100,000 through his ‘EduBank’ idea. Bildana Haque, and Rafi Ahmed Khan became first and second runner-up respectively. They received cash prize of Tk 50,000, and Tk 30,000 respectively.
The chief guest of the event was Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank. He handed over the cheque to the champions. Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed shared, "All the ideas were interesting, and innovative. These ideas will digitalise the banking sector as we have not used demographic investment method yet." He mentioned that innovation is the key of a successful entrepreneur. "Do not run for bank jobs. Start your own business regarding international factor, and come with innovation. Be a good presenter by making things easy to understand."
Challenges and lessons for the participants
The journey was never easy for the participants as they did not know all the rules and regulations of the banking sector and they had to go through all the articles of Bangladesh Bank in order to learn about them. After this competition, they are now more educated about the banking sector of our country. It is easier to acquire knowledge about other sectors, but there is very less amount of resources about banks and other financial institutions. So, there needs to be a platform from where students of college and universities will get to learn.
Woori Bank created a platform for the students, from where they will be able to choose the best projects by analysing and calculating the risks of the projects. Apart from Woori Bank, investors are also allowed to invest in the ideas shared by the participants. This type of competition will increase the confidence, lessen the communication gap between youths and create future executives with vast knowledge about banking sectors.
Future plans: Woori Idea Fest 2019
This year Woori Idea Fest was organised within a very short time. Like a hurdle race, it was the first hurdle that they have completed. Next year they will reach out to more universities. In addition, there will be intra rounds like this year, and it will be fully organised by Woori Bank. Initiatives like these not only help to foster a culture of continuous innovation in all sectors, but also encourage today's youths to engage and experience real life contexts while completing their studies.
The writer is a final year student at Bangladesh University of Professionals.
He can be reached at
[email protected]
