Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is teaming up with Ripple Labs Inc. (Developers of XRP coin) and California-based blockchain firm Coil to launch a project aimed at enhancing financial access for unbanked and underprivileged communities.
The partnership as announced by Deputy Director of the Gates foundation, Miller Abel who explained that the foundation carries out lots of charity work in developing countries but constantly faced inefficiency problems due to poor financial infrastructure in these communities.
According to Miller, he states;
We are partnering with Ripple and Coil to implement the fusion of the interledger protocol and Mojaloop; to explore ways in which Mojaloop can support pro-poor payment systems.
Mojaloop launched last year by the Gates foundation, is an open-source mobile payment software for financial organizations, government regulators and fintech industries. It aims to promote mobile payments in the developing world as well as providing financial services for unbanked people around the world. The platform allows users send digital payments regardless of what account or services they use and supports interoperability among financial service providers.
The Mojaloop project was formed as a responsive measure by the Gates foundation to the financial needs of the world’s population. According to statistics from the World Bank, in 2017 there were about 1.7 billion adults (30% of the global population) who were technically unbanked. Most of this population reside within low and middle income markets and have no access to regular banking due to lack of correct identification information.
Defining Features Of Mojaloop
The platform includes:
- A Central Device Directory to ensure every payment reaches the correct service provider.
- A Central Ledger Service to track transactions for compliance and settlement among financial service providers.
- A Fraud Service to allow providers share transaction information to validate and secure payments.
- A Central Rules Service which specifies policy and guiding terms across the platform.
- Person to Person, Point of Sale, Payroll/bulk payments and Multi account users all supported on the Mojaloop platform.
With blockchain-based platforms like Mojaloop, these underbanked individuals can receive digital identity for use in their banking through the help of their smartphones and biometrics. See more info at www.mojaloop.io
