# Q4 2025 Bounty Challenge | History Repeats Itself

### \[UPDATED 31/03/25] This bounty challenge is now closed 👀.

You are your transaction history.

This challenge is all about building *reality-based* financial tools: apps, agents, and dashboards that look at what people actually do with their money – and help them make smarter choices going into the new year.

Think:

> “January-me has big dreams. November-me has data.”

Let’s put that data to work.

> 💬 **Special shout-out:** Massive thanks to OG community member **Rijnhardt Kotze** for inspiring this theme and its gloriously honest naming.

***

### TL;DR

* **Theme:** History Repeats Itself – quantified self + real financial behaviour
* **Build window:** **20 November – 20 December 2025**
* **Who it’s for:** Everyone from first-time builders to OG community builders
* **Goal:** Use the **Investec API** to find patterns in real behaviour and (optionally) use **agentic AI** to act on them safely
* **Prizes:** Overall winner, best agentic build, best pattern, best rookie

👉 **Submission form:** [`Submit your build here`](https://forms.office.com/r/CL3D9fJMaD)

***

### 1. Theme: History Repeats Itself

January resolutions are cute. Transaction histories are honest.

This bounty focuses on the **“quantified self”**: measuring and surfacing patterns in how people live, spend and earn – and then nudging better decisions.

Some examples to spark ideas:

* When you take **more than 10k steps**, do you **spend more at McDonald’s**?
* When you add **new streaming subscriptions**, do your **billable hours drop**?
* Do you listen to **more Adele** on Spotify on the day **debit orders** hit?

You’ll use:

* [**Investec API**](https://developer.investec.com/za/api-products) data (transactions, balances, pending items)
* Optionally: **other data sources** (fitness, calendar, music, time tracking, etc.)
* Optionally: **agentic AI / MCP / LLMs** to generate rich context or take helpful actions

For anything that moves money: **start in Sandbox** and be very deliberate about UX and guardrails.

***

### 2. Tracks (choose one)

Pick the track that matches your ambition and time. All tracks are open to all skill levels.

| Track & Level         | What you build                                                  | Great if you…                                                                                                    | Example features                                                                                               |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| <p><strong>🧩 Track A | Pattern Finder</strong><br><em>(Beginner-friendly)</em></p>     | Find interesting, real-world patterns in people’s financial behaviour and surface them in dashboards or reports. | Are new to the Investec API, or want to focus on data, charts and storytelling rather than complex automation. | <p>– Correlate <strong>spend vs steps</strong>, <strong>spend vs calendar</strong>, <strong>spend vs music</strong><br>– Build a <strong>“Reality Dashboard”</strong>: “You say you’re cutting eating out… here’s what actually happened.”<br>– Highlight a user’s personal <strong>“McDonald’s Constant”</strong> – their hilariously consistent habit.</p> |
| <p><strong>🤖 Track B | Agent, Act!</strong><br><em>(Agentic AI / MCP)</em></p>         | Build an **agent** that watches behaviour and triggers useful, safe actions or detailed explanations.            | Are comfortable with LLMs, tools, MCP, and want to give your app a “brain” that can act (with consent).        | <p>– Draft weekly <strong>“You vs Reality”</strong> reports using LLMs<br>– Suggest <strong>safe internal transfers</strong> or “cool-off” periods based on patterns<br>– Explain <em>why</em> the agent did something, using natural language and clear logs.</p>                                                                                           |
| <p><strong>🧪 Track C | Behaviour Change Lab</strong><br><em>(Pro / ambitious)</em></p> | A mini **behavioural lab** that tests what actually changes behaviour over time.                                 | Want to combine data, experimentation and UX to show “before vs after” impact.                                 | <p>– Run A/B tests on <strong>different nudges</strong> (alerts vs weekly recaps vs playbooks)<br>– Track which interventions work for a specific user<br>– Show a <strong>“Behaviour Impact”</strong> view: “This change saved you X / reduced Y over 6 weeks.”</p>                                                                                         |

You can always start with Track A and layer in Track B/C ideas as you go.

👉 Check the [**API Reference**](https://developer.investec.com/za/api-products) in the official docs for details on:

* Accounts, balances, transaction history
* Pending transactions and card data
* Payments and transfers (for safe, explicit actions)

> For anything that moves money: start in **Sandbox** and be very deliberate about UX and guardrails.

***

### 3. Optional sub-themes & prompts

Use these as creative prompts if you’re stuck. Think of them as “idea cards” you can pick up and run with.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Idea Example #1" %}
**Prompt:** “The McDonald’s Constant”

**Insight:** Some habits are hilariously stable over time – your personal constants.

**What you could build:**

– Detect **weirdly stable patterns** in history (e.g. post-overtime takeaways, Friday splurges)\
– Turn one constant into a playful insight card: “Your McDonald’s Constant is X.”\
– Suggest micro-changes or rules around that constant (not full life overhauls)
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Idea Example #2" %}
**Prompt:** “January 15th”

**Insight:** By mid-Jan, the New Year’s optimism meets the bank balance reality.

**What you could build:**

– Using Nov/Dec data, **forecast mid-Jan** cash position and risk points\
– Simulate different behaviours between now and then (“if you do X, Jan 15th looks like Y”)\
– Show a simple “do this now → avoid that pain then” plan
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Idea Example #3" %}
**Prompt:** “Build for Who You Actually Are”

**Insight:** You are your transaction history, not your Pinterest board of dreams.

**What you could build:**

– Contrast **ideal self vs actual self** using data slices (e.g. “You say you’re frugal, here’s your actual eating-out pattern”)\
– Offer system suggestions that match real behaviour (e.g. automatic buffers where you *actually* leak money)\
– Let users pick from a few realistic “money personalities” informed by their history
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

***

### 4. Prizes

&#x20;Small swag hampers up for grabs:

* 🏆 **Grand Prize – Best Overall Reality Product**
* 🤖 **Best Agentic Build** – Safest and most useful autonomous actions
* 🔍 **Best Pattern** – Fun/insightful correlation with a genuinely useful outcome
* 🌱 **Rookie Award** – Best project from a first-time Investec API builder

And of course - eternal community glory.

***

### 5. What you need to submit

| 🧾 Requirement            | ✔️ What to Do                                                                         |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Declare Participation** | Say “I’m in!” in [#bounties](https://investec-dev-com.slack.com/archives/C05MNBE2G3C) |
| **GitHub Repo**           | Share your working code via a **public repo**                                         |
| **README**                | Include setup instructions and how your solution works                                |
| **License**               | Must be **MIT Licensed**                                                              |
| **Demo (Optional)**       | Screenshots, videos, or gifs are welcome!                                             |
| **Knowledge File**        | Add a `./knowledge` file with tips, gotchas or learnings (optional but awesome)       |

***

### 6. Safety, privacy & ethics

This challenge plays with **real financial behaviour**, so we need to be extra thoughtful.

Please:

* **Start with Sandbox (**[**Official**](https://developer.investec.com/za/api-products/documentation/SA_PB_Account_Information#section/Authentication/Oauth2-Sandbox) **or** [**Community**](https://github.com/Investec-Developer-Community/Community-Projects?tab=readme-ov-file#community-created-sandboxes)**)** for anything that moves money
* Be transparent about:
  * What data you read
  * How you compute correlations
  * Any assumptions you’re making
* Always allow:
  * Opt-out and data disconnect
  * Clear confirmation for financial actions
* Avoid making **financial advice claims**
  * Show facts, insights, options – let the user decide

If in doubt, lean towards **“explain more, act less”**.

***

### 7. Final note

You don’t have to “fix” anyone’s entire financial life.

If your project helps someone see **one true thing** about themselves – and nudges them to make one better decision – that’s already a win.

Happy building ✨


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