FAQ

  • We understand that your entry may contain confidential or proprietary information. Your entry form will not be displayed or shared publicly without permission. Information contained in the entry form may be used to write a case study if your entry is selected as a finalist, which your institution must review and approve before it is shared publicly.

  • A representative from the Cobalt Awards team will be in touch to make all the arrangements for your attendance at Jack Henry Connect for the formal award presentation and panel participation in a dedicated session.
  • Yes, charity selections must be provided in the entry form for review and approval by Jack Henry. If the requested charity is deemed ineligible, we will provide a list of approved charities that your organization can select from for your donation.
  • The judges are responsible for reviewing and scoring the entries based on predefined criteria to select the most deserving winners. Each entry can score up to 40 points per judge, points per judge will be combined for a total score of up to 280 points per submission. Tiebreaker judging rounds will occur when finalist scores are within a five-point margin of error. Details of the judging panel deliberations will not be disclosed publicly, and scoring sheets will not be sent to entrants.

  • Each financial institution winner will receive:

    • A $10,000 donation to their charity of choice.
    • A physical trophy.
    • Free registration and travel (up to $550) to Jack Henry Connect for up to four attendees per winning financial institution.
    • Recognition in a press release and in a main stage award ceremony at Jack Henry Connect, as well as the opportunity for an individual case study written by Jack Henry.

  • Each fintech winner will receive:

    • A $10,000 donation to their charity of choice.
    • A physical trophy.
    • One free booth registration with premium placement in the Tech Hall at Jack Henry Connect.
    • Recognition in a press release and in a main stage award ceremony at Jack Henry Connect.
  • Entrants may only win one award per category. All eligible entries will be carefully considered and scored by our judges based on the merit of each entry and how well it meets the requested criteria.
  • Financial institutions can apply to two categories (The Barrier Breaker and The Changemaker) while fintechs can apply to one category (The Integrator).
  • All information will be kept within the Jack Henry Cobalt Award Program team and judges. Any information that will be shared for promotional purposes for award winners will be shared with the entry submitter before public distribution.

  • While you may refer to examples from the past in your essay-style answers, the primary focus of your entry should rely on relevant innovations from the past calendar year.

  • Links to supporting materials such as online videos, photos, or PDFs may be provided in the appropriate fields of our entry forms. We do not accept any files to be sent to the Cobalt Awards mailbox other than completed entry form PDFs, so all links to supporting materials must be uploaded to an external host (your website or elsewhere) and available for us to access directly through your provided links.
  • We will not be providing individual feedback for submissions at this time.
  • Winners will be contacted in mid-late July and will be announced to the public at Jack Henry Connect.
  • Once submitted, entries become final. All entries must be complete and received by the specified deadline of June 1, 2025 or they will not be judged.
  • Financial institutions must be a current Jack Henry client and reference the use of Jack Henry solutions in their submissions. Fintech entry submissions must feature of the use of Jack Henry’s open ecosystem, Developer Toolkit, and/or open APIs or integration resources.
  • Generally, anyone appointed by your organization and approved to share information related to the awards submission can apply. A secondary contact must also be provided in the entry form so that we can ensure that winners will be notified expediently.
  • Yes! However, all submissions must be unique and meet basic eligibility requirements.