Addition Financial Competition 2023-2024

The UCF Department of Statistics and Data Science in partnership with Addition Financial is pleased to announce our 2023-2024 Analytics Competition! Participants will analyze real-world data to gain actionable insights into the problem of branch research. The goal is to enhance Addition Financial’s branch location process to align with changing market dynamics, customer behaviors, and emerging trends in the financial sector. By creating a rigorous and reproducible statistical analysis, and conveying results in a form understandable to non-experts, students will gain valuable experience for future employment. And to top it off, there is a $3,000 grand prize!

COMPETITION INFORMATION

UCF students will engage in a real-world project with Addition Financial, a leading financial institution aiming to expand its branch network within the State of Florida. As part of this unique opportunity, students will be provided with essential data on potential locations where Addition Financial is eligible to build new branches. Armed with this data, the students will embark on a dynamic journey of exploration and analysis, encouraged to use any other publicly available resources such as Census data, city and county websites, and various governmental statistics sites.

Problem

The students’ task is to meticulously gather comprehensive demographic and location-related information for each potential branch site. Through rigorous research and data mining, the students will gain valuable insights into the diverse communities and neighborhoods across Florida, enabling them to make well-informed decisions about the most promising location(s) for Addition Financials’ expansion.

The focus of this project extends beyond just identifying suitable sites; the students will delve into understanding the unique characteristics and needs of various regions and populations. By considering factors like population density, income distribution, economic indicators, and local consumer behaviors, they will uncover valuable patterns and trends that will help shape the strategic positioning of new branches.

Dataset

Contest participants will be provided anonymized Branch Level data and Member Level data.

Contest participants will also be provided with a data dictionary, describing each of the data points. It will be imperative for participants to have a clear understanding of the data that they are working with—as much of the data is industry specific. Explaining their findings in a clear & concise manner will be just as important as having accurate results.

The dataset can be downloaded here:

Contest Structure

The primary goal of the competition is to predict, with a high degree of accuracy, and make a well-informed decision(s) about the most promising location(s) for Addition Financial’s next expansion.

All entries will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Content in the Project Report
• Modeling Approach
• Results and Conclusions
• Presentation of results 

Project codes must be written in R, Python, or Microsoft SQL.

Code file types should be compatible with the software used: (example:

R file should be in “*.r” (.rmd preferred), Python in “*.py” (.ipynb preferred), Microsoft SQL file should be in “*.sql”).

**Teams will be required to formally present their findings to the AFCU competition judges at the AFCU Headquarters located at 1000 Primera Blvd. Lake Mary, FL 32746.**

Judges will need to replicate the analysis using the team’s code/model on a test dataset. Teams must provide formal instructions on how to run their model. Judging will be based on the application of the data, the method(s) used to reach conclusions, the number of significant relationships or correlations discovered, and the presentation of their findings.

It is crucial that contest participants communicate their findings in layman’s terms. Treat this assignment as if you were presenting to a group of decision makers that may not have a strong background in rigorous statistical analysis.

Competition Documents

See the documents below for the official competition description, rules, and ongoing Q&A regarding the dataset.

• Addition Financial Analytics Competition 2023 Description
• Addition Financial Analytics Competition 2023 Rules
• Frequently Asked Questions

Prizes

1st Place Team: $3,000
2nd Place Team: $1,500
3rd Place Team: $500

Important Dates

Contest start date: September 22, 2023 (data files will be available on this date)

Final submissions due: January 15, 2024 (early submissions are encouraged)

Group presentations will be conducted between February 6, 2024 and February 17, 2024

UCF notification of top three winners: March 14, 2024

Eligibility and Team Format

The contest is open to current full-time and part-time UCF students. Students will submit as a team with at least 1 member and up to 5 members. To register please use the link below:

Contestants are strongly advised to consult with a faculty member for guidance in this competition.

Kick-off Event

The competition kick-off was hosted in-person by the UCF Department of Statistics and Data Science on September 22, 2023.

Questions & Contact

AFCU encourages students to contact us at any time with questions concerning the dataset. Please direct any questions you may have to Dept-BusinessIntelligence@additionfi.com

All questions and answers will be shared with other competitors via the FAQ page.

Submission

The submission link is here: