FICO names Tech Mahindra winner in eCommerce hackathon

FICO has named Tech Mahindra a winner in its Global System Integrator Partner Hackathon, recognising a solution designed to reduce cash-on-delivery returns in India's eCommerce market.

The winning entry addressed return-to-origin losses linked to cash-on-delivery orders, a long-standing problem for online retailers in India. FICO said the solution was developed on its platform at its Bengaluru campus during the second edition of the partner competition.

India's eCommerce sector faces heavy losses from returns on cash-on-delivery purchases, which remain a common payment method. Industry figures cited by FICO put return-to-origin rates at 25% to 30% for cash-on-delivery orders, compared with 2% to 3% for prepaid purchases.

Tech Mahindra's model assesses more than 70 risk signals across the shopping and payment process. It then determines whether a customer should be offered cash on delivery, what prepaid incentive to use, which delivery partner to assign, and how to route orders through dark stores.

According to FICO, the system was designed to produce decisions that are transparent and suitable for audit review. Based on an order volume of one million a month, it projected a 6% to 9% reduction in return-to-origin rates, equivalent to about INR 1 crore in monthly losses avoided, or roughly USD 120,000.

One winning team was selected from each participating partner in the hackathon. A panel of five judges from FICO assessed entries on fit with the challenge, business impact, innovation, customer appeal, teamwork, and presentation quality.

Returns problem

Cash on delivery remains important in India's online retail market because it helps merchants reach customers who are reluctant to prepay or have limited access to digital payment tools. But the payment method also carries a higher risk that orders will be refused at the doorstep or returned before completion, adding logistics and inventory costs for retailers.

The issue has become more significant as online sellers try to protect margins while handling large order volumes and fast-fulfilment models. Routing choices, delivery partnerships, and payment offers can all affect whether an order is accepted or returned.

Tech Mahindra said its work on the project drew on its experience in artificial intelligence, analytics, and platform engineering. It described the tool as a way for retailers to make real-time choices on payment eligibility, fulfilment, and logistics while keeping a documented basis for each decision.

Anil Venuturupalli, Senior Vice President, Global Head of the Banking & Products Group and Chief Product Officer for Financial Services at Tech Mahindra, outlined the company's view of the project in a statement issued alongside the award.

"As digital commerce continues to accelerate, retailers are increasingly looking beyond transaction processing to intelligent decision-making that can proactively reduce risk while delivering seamless customer experiences. Our award-winning solution demonstrates how intelligent decisioning can help enterprises make transparent, real-time decisions across the customer journey, enabling smarter fulfilment, optimized payment strategies, and improved operational outcomes. This recognition by FICO reinforces our commitment to developing scalable, data-driven innovations that address complex business challenges and create measurable value for enterprises," said Venuturupalli.

Partner focus

The award also highlights FICO's use of partner-led competitions to encourage applications of its software beyond traditional credit decisioning and fraud management. In this case, the focus was a consumer retail problem with direct implications for payments, logistics, and profitability.

Jason Andrew, Chief Revenue Officer at FICO, said the company viewed the project as an example of tackling a problem many merchants have come to treat as unavoidable.

"The best solutions solve problems people have stopped trying to fix. Tech Mahindra looked at India's COD returns crisis and saw an opportunity where others saw an inevitability. That is the power of FICO Platform in the hands of talented, motivated teams, and it is why we invest in partnerships like this one," said Andrew.

Tech Mahindra employs more than 146,000 people across 90 countries and is part of the Mahindra Group.