Loan Prediction Hackathon — Free Online ML Contest by Analytics Vidhya — Frequently Asked Questions

It is an online data science competition run by Analytics Vidhya. Participants build a predictive model that works out whether a loan application should be approved or not, using a real-world banking and financial services dataset. It is a binary classification task, where the answer for each applicant is either Yes or No.

There is no cash prize attached to this programme. The stated reward is a participation certificate for every entrant who submits a valid solution. The value comes from the practical experience, the leaderboard feedback and the addition to your portfolio rather than any payout.

No. Registration is free, and there is no charge to participate.

The competition is open to all individuals globally. Students, working professionals and people simply interested in data science and machine learning can all register. Prior experience is not required, so it works well as a beginner's first competition.

Yes. There are no team-size restrictions, so you can enter as an individual or work in a team of any size you like. You could also start solo and bring in collaborators later.

The last date for submitting a solution is 30 December 2026. The competition opened on 24 August 2024, so the entry window spans that entire period and you can submit at any point within it.

The hackathon is fully online and self-paced — it is available around the clock, so there are no fixed sessions or scheduled classes to attend. You decide how much time to spend, and you can keep refining your model right up to the submission deadline.

You work with a real banking and financial services dataset whose fields include applicant income, co-applicant income, loan amount, credit history and loan status. The challenge is to predict a binary outcome: whether a loan is approved (Yes) or rejected (No). Working through it gives you practice in exploratory data analysis, data cleaning, feature engineering and model selection.

Neither. It is a free skills competition rather than a funding programme, so there is no investment, no equity stake and nothing to repay. The only thing you receive is the participation certificate and the practical experience.

Registration happens through the official event page linked on this page, and there is no fee to sign up. Once registered, you can work on your model and submit your solution any time before 30 December 2026, with the leaderboard showing how your entry performs.

No. DPIIT (Startup India) recognition is not listed as a mandatory requirement for Loan Prediction Hackathon — Free Online ML Contest by Analytics Vidhya, though having it can strengthen your application and unlock other benefits.

Apply directly through the official application link on this page. Review the eligibility criteria and prepare your startup documents before you begin.