The Ohio State University

We are Buckeye FinTech, where finance meets technology.

Workshops, industry speakers, hackathons and a new Project Team for Ohio State students curious about the technology reshaping payments, banking and markets.

Join us Project Team

About

Buckeye FinTech is Ohio State’s student organization for financial technology. We bring together students from engineering, business and beyond to explore how technology is changing the way money moves, from payments and banking to investing and markets.

01 · Workshops

Learn the tools

Hands-on sessions on the technology behind modern finance: financial modeling, payment systems, blockchain and AI.

02 · Speakers

Hear from industry

Conversations with people working across finance and technology about how the industry works and how to break in.

03 · Hackathons

Compete on campus

Campus-wide competitions with real prizes and industry mentors. Our next one, in January 2027, is aiming for $25,000 in prizes.

04 · Project Team

Work on real problems

Our new Project Team works with fintech companies on real problems. We’re recruiting our first cohort.

About the Project Team

What we explore

The technology behind modern finance.

Fintech is more than AI. It’s every system that moves, stores, lends, insures and trades money.

01Payments & digital wallets
02Digital banking
03Blockchain & digital assets
04Trading & market infrastructure
05Lending & credit
06Insurtech
07RegTech & compliance
08AI & data in finance

Learn the tech behind the money.

From how a card payment clears to how a trading engine matches orders, we dig into the systems that move money.

The hackathon

Past event Feb 27–28, 2026 · The Ohio State University Next hackathon · January 2027 · $25K prize goal

The largest cash-prize hackathon on campus.

With IBM SkillsBuild, we brought together students from every major for 24 hours of AI-powered problem solving across two tracks, with IBM professionals mentoring along the way.

Participants, mentors and organizers gathered in a lecture hall under the AI Hackathon at Ohio State title slide — Participants, mentors and organizers at the AI Hackathon at Ohio State.

Prize pool

Hours, kickoff to demos

Challenge tracks

In partnership withIBM SkillsBuildPre-event webinar, IBM mentors on site and SkillsBuild digital credentials.

Track 01 · General$6,000

AI in Education

AI-powered ideas to improve the Ohio State student experience: advising, course planning, campus services, accessibility and academic support.

1st place$2,500

2nd place$2,000

3rd place$1,500

Track 02$2,500

FinTech

AI-driven solutions for budgeting, investing, financial access, automation and data-driven decision-making.

1st place$1,250

2nd place$750

3rd place$500

Plus $1,500 in specialty awards: $500 each for most technical product, most creative video and most social impact.

Winners

Congratulations to every team that competed.

The first-place Education track team in front of the winner announcement slide — 1st place
AI in Education
**$2,500**

The first-place FinTech track team in front of the winner announcement slide — 1st place
FinTech
**$1,250**

From the weekend

Three panelists seated in front of the audience, one speaking into a microphone — Panel discussion

Five students standing in front of a Buckeye FinTech and IBM slide — Buckeye FinTech × IBM

Students and event staff posing under a thank-you slide for IBM — Thank you to our friends at IBM

Thank you to our friends at IBM, and to the professors and mentors who supported participants every step of the way. This event wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Leadership