Digital Financial Services Lab (DFS Lab), a fintech accelerator funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, announced last week it has opened applications for its upcoming fintech hackathon, which is set to take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on April 8th through the 12th. According to DFS Lab, the hackathon will offer participants an in-depth look Mojaloop, which is an open-source software for financial services companies, government regulators, and others taking on the challenges of interoperability and financial inclusion.
While sharing more details about the hackathon, Jake Kendall, Executive Director of DFS Lab, stated:
“We’re excited to host this hackathon in Tanzania and work with cutting edge startups using technology to help expand financial services. Interoperability is necessary for financial inclusion, but it can be difficult to achieve. Mojaloop is a true game-changer, and we’re interested to see what new usages will come out of this process. We’re looking for fintech companies and other innovators who recognize that switch based mobile money interoperability is coming and want to work with us to build the next generation of features and products that this enables.”
DFS Lab also noted that Mojaloop was created by the Gates Foundation’s Level One Project, which is aimed at leveling the economic playing field by crowding in expertise and resources to build inclusive payment models to benefit the world’s poor. Konstantin Peric, Deputy Director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, added:
“Interoperability of digital payments is one of the biggest challenges for the financial services industry, but it is also a powerful and logical way to increase financial inclusion. We’re pleased to see Mojaloop being used to enable interoperability in several projects in Africa, notably by Mowali, a new joint venture between MTN and Orange. It’s now time for fintech companies to get on board, developing and testing innovative use cases for Mojaloop through this DFS Lab event.”