PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to overwhelming demand and following sold-out events in Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sao Paolo, MasterCard today announced that its Masters of Code™ Competition will expand to Mexico City and St. Louis, taking the total number of event cities in 2015 to an even dozen.
The MasterCard Masters of Code competition brings together the world’s top developers, designers and entrepreneurs to take on the APIs supplied by MasterCard. Using MasterCard’s APIs, developers have access to unsurpassed assets, data and products and services focused on powering commerce on a global scale. The participating teams compete to create innovative prototypes that demonstrate artful coding and design skills while also articulating clear business use cases – all focused on driving the next generation of commerce applications.
The winning team from each region will be flown to Silicon Valley to compete in the Grand Finale Masters of Code hackathon. There, a MasterCard Masters of Code Champion will be crowned and will receive $100,000 to develop their innovation.
Mexico City – August 1-2
With more than 21 million people, Mexico City possesses a sizeable and incredibly young and talented population. Mexico has become an increasingly powerful player on the Latin American innovation map, with numerous technology companies and startup accelerators establishing offices in the past years.
“We are excited that Mexico has been among the global circuit of cities to host a Masters of Code hackathon,” said Daniel Cohen, head of emerging payments for LAC, MasterCard. “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.”
St. Louis – October 10-11
Considered the fastest growing city for tech startup funding and one of the top 10 highest paying cities for tech jobs in the U.S., St. Louis, is also home to MasterCard Technologies & Operations headquarters and the nerve center for MasterCard’s transaction processing.
“St. Louis has a growing reputation for being a city that has a tremendous amount of technology talent – so we’re very pleased to be hosting a Masters of Code event here,” said Rob Reeg, president, MasterCard Operations & Technology. “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.”
“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 start-ups, 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 takes place in Tel Aviv on June 11-12 and then on to San Francisco, Montreal, Istanbul, New York, London and others. For more information, or to sign-up for any of the Masters of Code events, please visit www.MastersOfCode.com.
About MasterCard
MasterCard (NYSE:MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry. We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter@MasterCardNews, join the discussion on the Cashless Pioneers Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.