(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/George Clerk)

Last weekend BNP Paribas, a leader in global banking and financial services, held its first international hackathon in five cities simultaneously - San Francisco, Paris, Brussels,Istanbul and Rome.

The 48-hour session brought together designers and developers to work on enhancing customers' experience. Andy Harmening, Senior Executive Vice President of the West Regional Banking Group, said: "It has been very exciting to bring together the melding of banking and technology in this particular forum,"

"While Bank of the West has always employed an entrepreneurial startup mentality, the BNP Paribas International Hackathon provides a clear, powerful response to leverage the technological advancements in the area of financial tech, and beyond, for the benefit of our clients." 

Two categories under the titles of "Click & Mortar" and "Financial Literacy & Empowerment" were set for attendees. Both of the winners from the San Francisco competition were chosen from the Click & Mortar category and will now move onto the next phase along with 14 other teams. 

Winners from phase one of the San Francisco competition were; 

• Saldo.mx, a company specializing in cross border bill payment solution, and 
• SnapCheck, a company dedicated to eliminating paper checks and the fraud associated with them. 

The 16 teams in the second part of the competition will receive digital mentoring in a "boot-camp" running in the summer until September in Paris. During that period, competitors will have the opportunity to utilise the knowledge of professionals at BNP Paribas to help increase their chances of success. 

At the close of this phase, the various teams will present their projects to experts and investors who will decide on five teams to move-onto the final stage. This will include a six-month incubation period where the most innovative projects will be able to make-use of financial support, cutting-edge workspaces, a tailored acceleration program, plus introductions to potential partners. 

To find out more information about the hackathon, head here.

Have you ever taken part in an international hackathon? Let us know your experience in the comments.