Mojaloop Community PI-13 Event Recap

Last week, we kicked off an exciting year of activity with the Mojaloop Online PI-13 OSS Community Meeting. Over the course of five days, Mojaloop community members from around the world came together virtually to discuss market trends, development updates, contribute to the development roadmap, network with fellow open-source enthusiasts and connect with other players who are deploying Mojaloop technology. The theme of the event, One Loop for All: Mojaloop in Motion, guided the lively sessions and discussions throughout the week. We heard from Mojaloop community members and industry guests on a wide range of relevant and interesting topics, and as the meeting came to a close, we were left feeling excited and hopeful about advancing Mojaloop’s mission of financial inclusion in the digital payments space.

Below are key highlights from our business-led sessions from the first two days of the community event. So much great business insight in just two days! And believe it or not, that’s just the beginning. Check out highlights from our technical sessions, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to keep up to date.

And if you missed a session or want to watch them again, the complete agenda with session recordings can be found here and on our YouTube channel.

Mojaloop – Business-Led Session Highlights

Interledger and Mojaloop

First on the list, we had a session from Briana Marbury, Executive Director for the Interledger Foundation, highlighting the organization’s mission to advance financial inclusion. As advocates and stewards of the Interledger Protocol, the Foundation is helping to advance web monetization in ways that expand financial access to the un- and underbanked. The Foundation’s Grant for the Web program and ambassadors are supporting the innovation of the technology, tools and infrastructure that innovate and support experiments in the creation, distribution and discoverability of content monetized using the Web Monetization standard and the Interledger Protocol. Catch the full session here.

Payments and Policy

Next up, we have a conversation between Mojaloop Foundation contributor and Economic Development Manager at ModusBox, Steve Haley, and guest Ahmed Dermish of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). They discussed bridging the gap between policymakers, the nuance of decisions and what attributes need to be considered to make the Mojaloop design work. Key takeaway: governments need help to participate in the design process. Watch the full session.

Perspectives on the Future of Digital Payments

Led by Paul Makin, Digital Finance and Identity Consultant at Trouver, this session looked at the reasons cash remains so dominant today as well as the challenges and costs brought by a cash-centric economy. It continued to discuss different systems of interoperability and explain how Mojaloop helps enable the future of digital payments and advance instant transactions and interoperability as key economic drivers. The future of digital payments is bright! Watch Paul’s session to learn more.

Real-Time Retail Payment Scheme Governance

Another informative session came from Glenbrook’s Senior Engagement Manager Cici Northup and Senior Associate Laura Dreese. They looked at how real-time retail payment scheme governance aligns with Level One principles and why these components of governance must be pursued to promote financial inclusion. This session provided a great overview and examples of several companies putting these principles into practice. Watch their full talk to learn more.

Q&A Session with Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR)

Rounding out day one, we had a Q&A session with Mojaloop Executive Director Paula Hunter and AIR’s CEO Jo Ann Barefoot and Executive Director David Ehrich. Their discussion covered the need for change in financial regulation systems, the regulatory innovation being demonstrated around the world and what can be done to help regulators become proponents of open-source payment models, among other themes. Watch the full session here and look out for our upcoming blog on the conversation.

CBDC and Mojaloop in Developing Economies

With day two came another packed agenda of informative sessions, including one led by Mojaloop Foundation contributor David Mangini, from Giori Digital, on how a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) enhances Mojaloop’s role in developing economies. With a CBDC, the Central Bank can be sure that sovereign currency over existing mobile networks is within reach of everyone as a tool to increase financial inclusion. In this session, David provided context for CBDC and how Mojaloop is a powerful enabler to interconnect a new CBDC issued by the Central Bank to mobile operators and other payment systems. Check out the full session.

Open G2P: An Open-Source Framework for Digitizing Bulk Payments and Transfers

Directly following David’s session, we heard from Keyzom Massally, Founding Volunteer/OpenG2P, and Edward Cable, Mifos President and CEO, on the topic of OpenG2P and its role in digitizing bulk payments and transfers. OpenG2P will transform the currently cumbersome and costly process for mobilizing cash transfers through a set of reusable open-source components that can be plugged in alongside the current systems. This session provided a conceptual overview of the framework, looked at how it leverages other digital public goods and offered a high-level demo of the current stack. Watch the full talk here.

Creating Opportunity for Digital Invoices Via Mobile Money

Day two wrapped up with a presentation and panel discussion led by Carrie George, VP and Head of Sustainability and Impact at Everledger. In this session, panelists explored how telecommunications companies can support financial inclusion efforts by enabling interoperability and “digital invoices” of the exchanges that are happening on their platforms. To learn more on the impact those actions can have, watch the full session here.

For questions or to learn more about how you can get involved in the community connect with us here.

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