The Citi Mobile Challenge, will provide developers with a suite of APIs they can use to build applications to benefit consumers either through the mobile channel or the Internet of Things.

Selected participants will present their concepts at demonstration events in Miami, New York and Silicon Valley and finalists will have the chance to take their technologies into production with the support of Citi.

The bank has teamed up with a number of technology firms, including Intuit, Plug and Play, and Wearable World, to connect with the developer community.

Plug and Play CEO and Founder Saeed Amidi, says: "We are actively extending our Financial Technology Accelerator and partnering with Citi for the Citi Mobile Challenge provides a great opportunity to jointly review the most innovative companies in this space."

The Challenge will run over the course of nine days in October, when the bank will make available a variety of APIs from across its businesses to help developers to create apps and other innovations that could function with existing Citi technology.

A panel of entrepreneurs, investors and tech and banking executives will review submissions and select finalists, who will demo their ideas at three events in Silicon Valley, New York and Miami.

Selected developers will have the opportunity to consult with technology mentors, share in a cash award and take their programmes into production.

Citi Mobile Challenge in the US follows a successful initiative in Latin America earlier this year which attracted nearly 500 developers. Three of the entries from that programme are currently being evaluated for commercial release, including:

• "Citi Shopping" a personalised e-commerce app that allows users to buy from US retailers, pay in local currency, and have their goods shipped to their home country, by PideloRapido
• "PAQ", by POS MOVIL Group, a full cycle mobile commerce platform that offers an inclusive B2B feature
• "SACapp", a mobile system for customer service that interacts with call centre agents to improve customer experience and response times.