From Prompt to Product: Students Build the Future of Fintech at the KSU Statewide Hackathon
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by
Laura Gibson-Lamothe
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Nearly 300 students from across Georgia gathered October 24 and 25 at Kennesaw State University for the annual Statewide FinTech Hackathon powered by the Georgia Fintech Academy—two days of nonstop collaboration, creativity, and innovation.
In less than 24 hours, student teams transformed ambitious ideas into working fintech prototypes addressing real-world payments challenges, including AI-driven fraud detection and stablecoin-powered cross-border remittances. The hackathon’s theme, Payments Innovation, reflected the industry’s most urgent priorities: trust, access, and scalability in a rapidly evolving digital economyhackathon-challenge-payments-in….
A Weekend of Real-World Problem Solving
The competition invited students to design solutions for two applied scenarios:
- Global Stablecoin Payment Relay, focused on improving liquidity, identity, and compliance for cross-border transactionshackathon-challenge-payments-in….
- AI-Driven Fraud Detection, challenging teams to balance customer experience with intelligent, real-time risk preventionhackathon-challenge-payments-in….
The result was a weekend that bridged the gap between classroom theory and real-world application. “Students aren’t just learning fintech concepts—they’re applying them,” said Laura Gibson-Lamothe, Executive Director of the Georgia Fintech Academy. “They’re tackling the same challenges the payments industry faces every day, and doing it with speed, creativity, and purpose.”
Recognizing the Leaders Behind the Event
This event was made possible through the dedication of Nick Suppiah, Director of the KSU Fintech Program, and Robert Velarde, event champion, whose leadership and commitment to student success were instrumental. Their efforts—alongside those of KSU faculty, mentors, and sponsors—helped create an immersive, industry-aligned experience for every participant.
Celebrating the Winners
🏆 1st Place – Liquid (Innovation Academy)
Applied percolation theory and machine learning to predict optimal timing for cross-border stablecoin transfers, improving liquidity and reliability.
🥈 2nd Place – SafePay (Georgia State University)
Developed an AI-driven fraud detection network that securely shares insights across accounts without exposing private data.
🥉 3rd Place – Eco Pay (Kennesaw State University)
Created a voice-based stablecoin payment system to enhance secure, inclusive transactions and identity verification for diverse users.
🏅 Runner-Up – Blocksend (Kennesaw State University & Georgia Tech)
Built a cross-border transfer platform using AI and stablecoins to optimize transactions for speed, cost, and transparency.
Each winning student received a Vibe Coding + Prompt Engineering Certificate on the LearningChain platform, courtesy of sponsor Vibes DIY—highlighting the Academy’s focus on equipping students with both experience and credentials that translate to workforce readiness.
Powering Georgia’s Fintech Talent Pipeline
Events like this exemplify the Georgia Fintech Academy’s mission to connect talent, industry, and opportunity across the state. Together with partners like Kennesaw State University, we’re helping students move from classroom concepts to real-world impact—one hackathon at a time.