The Gates Foundation has developed an open source platform called Mojaloop to promote mobile finance in the developing world. This is a free software available for software developers and banks to adapt to their own needs. It was created in partnership with fintech developers, Ripple, Dwolla, ModusBox, Crosslake Technologies and Software Group.
Mojaloop is similar to the very successful Kenyan mobile finance platform M-Pesa with the key difference being that Mojaloop is open source and M-Pesa is closed loop. A closed loop means that users can only pay others who are using the same system.
Building a platform that combines complex technology whilst remaining low-cost and accessible to poor people is very difficult for the profit-chasing private sector. This is why it required an organisation like the Gates Foundation to build an effective platform that ticks both of these boxes.
