Blockchain-based Mobile Payments Service Developed by Gates Foundation

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are introducing an open-source software to facilitate the creation of payment platforms for developing economies. Designed to ensure interoperability between various financial services and established payment platforms.

This is not the first foray into the Blockchain technology for the foundation, as they have been researching it at least since 2015. Their Level One Project aims to integrate the poor people around the world into the larger economies by making digital finance more accessible around the globe.

The latest initiative is called Mojaloop, and, according to the official press release, this is what it intends to provide:

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.
Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, at the Gates Foundation

Mojaloop incorporates Ripple’s Interledger tech, but it’s far from the only financial technology partner involved in the project. The Gates Foundation has proven to be an effective unifying force in the past on a number of similar projects, which makes this attempt to bring inclusivity and interoperability into the world of digital finance an incredibly promising venture.