THE Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has released a new open source software for creating payment platforms to help over two billion unbanked people globally access digital financial services.
The developers used cutting-edge technology such as the Interledger Protocol, a solution for settling funds among multiple providers across their individual systems.
The Gates Foundation, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, Kosta Peric, said interoperability of digital payments has been the toughest hurdle for the financial services industry to overcome.
“With Mojaloop, our technology partners have finally achieved a solution that can apply to any service, and we invite banks and the payments industry to explore and test this tool,” he said.
He added, “Just as the internet revolutionised digital communication, open-source solutions like Mojaloop can spark innovation and democratise access to digital payments, empowering billions of new customers and driving massive economic growth in developing markets,” Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Governor Prof Benno Ndulu said interoperability is necessary both for financial inclusion and market maturity, but it is a complex thing to achieve.
“We are excited to explore implementation of this because of how it can simplify that capability for businesses and governments and speed up access to financial services,” he said.
The President of Software Product Line at Huawei Mr Shi Yaohong said, “in order to achieve the full potential of mobile money, we must evolve today’s complex and often fragmented digital payments ecosystem,” “I look forward to exploring opportunities to leverage Mojaloop to help us achieve our goal of bringing digital financial services to all poor and low-income customers,” he said in a statement.
The software is designed to provide a reference model for payment interoperability between banks and other providers across a country’s economy.
It is available now, free-of-cost, for software developers to adapt and banks, financial service providers and companies to implement.
“As we modernise and develop national and cross-border payments infrastructure in Africa, the only way to sustainably reach and serve the world’s unbanked communities is through new technologies,” said Chris Hamilton, CEO of BankservAfrica.
Mojaloop joins other promising digital financial software, but is the first model that can help extend interoperability from mobile money providers to any bank, merchant or government institution in a customer’s economy in a way that specifically meets the needs of the poor.
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