Demand Expands MasterCard’s Masters of Code Hackathon

MasterCard didn’t have to wait to be asked to bring its Masters of Code Hackathon back by demand — it’s already decided to expand the program into two more cities this year.

With the additions of Mexico City and St. Louis, new locations which were announced yesterday (June 2), the payment network’s competition is now active in a total of 12 cities. The event is designed to bring together the world’s top developers, designers and entrepreneurs to take on the APIs supplied by MasterCard. The teams are asked to create prototypes to “demonstrate artful coding and design skills while also articulating clear business use cases,” according to MasterCard, which notes that it’s focused on “driving the next generation of commerce applications.”

“We are delighted that Mexico City and St. Louis are now part of our global hackathon series,” said Mario Shiliashki, Senior Vice President, Open API, MasterCard. “These cities have a thriving culture of startups, especially in the financial technology area, so they are ideal locations to tap into exciting new ideas. The event also aligns with MasterCard’s focus on innovating across all areas of our business, as we meet the changing needs of business and consumers.”

The next Masters of Code event is scheduled for Tel Aviv on June 11-12, followed by San Francisco, Montreal, Istanbul, New York, London and others. Mexico City’s event will be held on Aug. 1-2.

“As the second largest economy in the Latin America region and with a thriving tech scene, we know there will be many innovative ideas to prove why Mexico is securely positioned on the global tech map,” said Daniel Cohen, Head of Emerging Payments for LAC, MasterCard.

And back in the U.S., the Masters of Code will head to St. Louis on Oct. 10-11. In its release about the event, MasterCard highlighted that St. Louis is known as the “fastest growing city for tech startup funding.”

“St. Louis is home to MasterCard’s global technology headquarters, as well – so I’m looking forward to seeing the creative ideas that come from this session, that continue to drive advances and innovation in how consumers pay for the things that matter to them,” said Rob Reeg, president, MasterCard Operations & Technology.

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