At the core of ModusBox’s driving principles is transformation. While the day to day reality of our business means building connections that provide companies with the tools they need to digitally transform their organizations, transformation means more to us than APIs.
That’s why ModusBox was thrilled with the opportunity to become a partner on an open-source project that could support financial inclusion for the world’s poorest people and help expand access to banking resources.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation brought together partners, including ModusBox, Dwolla, Crosslake Technologies, Ripple, and Software Group to create the Mojaloop platform, announced recently at the Sibos conference in Toronto.
As you read more about Mojaloop, we believe that you will be as inspired as we were to dedicate time and knowledge to this worthy project. You can find the project’s GitHub repository here.
Below, find out more about the foundational elements that inspired Mojaloop. And for more information, see the official press release on The Gates Foundation website.
Background on Mojaloop
Current data estimates that two billion people don’t have a bank account or basic financial services and miss out on the benefits and security these services and products provide, such as being able to save money or build credit. Digital financial services like mobile money on cell phones—which customers can use to send and receive payments just like text messages—have proven to be a cost-effective way for financial service providers to serve traditionally unreachable customers.
For example, in Kenya, an estimated 194,000 households have moved out of extreme poverty due in part to their access to mobile money and the ability to save money more effectively. However, fewer than 20 countries have been able to establish interoperability among payment services that enable customers to affordably transact with one another on different platforms. Many financial service providers lack the resources to cover the large investment costs required to build this infrastructure or end up charging high service fees, which ultimately hinder the development of digital financial services that reach the world’s poor.
To help address this gap, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and partners have created a new open-source tool to help enable interoperable payments platforms on a national scale. Financial providers and governments can use Mojaloop to build an internet of payments that connects all customers, merchants, banks, providers, and government offices in a country, accelerating progress toward a truly inclusive economy.
Mojaloop is available now for developers to use and update on GitHub, the world’s leading software development platform.
