If you want to shape the future of Mojaloop and ensure the technology meets your needs, the Product Council is the right place to get involved. Paul Makin, the Mojaloop Foundation’s Director of Product Strategy, encourages anyone interested in Mojaloop’s continuing evolution to join the conversation and contribute their perspective.
In this blog post, Paul explains what the community can expect from the Product Council in 2026 and how your participation can influence Mojaloop’s direction.
What is the Mojaloop Product Council?
The Product Council is a community forum that provides clear and transparent updates on workstream activities through a product lens. It ensures that workstream goals stay aligned with real product needs and that each workstream has the support of contributors who understand how Mojaloop is used in practice. The Council also identifies and plans the work needed to support future adoption by bringing real feedback from adopters into the product roadmap. It creates a structured way for business requirements, new ideas, and market insights to enter the product process. It also supports the marketing and community teams by providing accurate product knowledge that helps keep external communications clear and effective.
How has it changed?
The role of the Product Council has evolved along with Mojaloop. In the early years, the focus was on building the essential foundation and confirming that the core features worked reliably for adopters. As Mojaloop’s technology has matured, the Council shifted its attention toward refinement and operational support. Instead of concentrating primarily on engineers building the earliest versions of the system, the Council is now centered on shaping a market-ready product that meets the needs of adopters, regulators, and partners at scale. This shift reflects Mojaloop’s growth into a platform with long-term strategic value for financial inclusion.
What can the community expect from the Product Council this year?
The Council is moving beyond purely technical discussions and expanding its focus to include policy questions, operational challenges, and guidance to help the community succeed with deployments. Meeting topics depend on the issues community members are facing at the time.
For example, a recent session focused on liquidity management and the Net Debit Cap. Conversations with adopters showed that some scheme-led decisions were introducing risk into the system. The Council met to consider whether it should restrict the risky behavior or establish a new technical workstream that would allow the behavior to continue with clear guidelines to reduce business risk.
This shift shows how the Council now supports community decision-making, not just workstream reporting.
What is the time commitment, and how often do you meet?
The Council typically meets a couple of times each month through virtual sessions. The schedule is flexible, and topics can be adjusted based on community needs.
Participation is also flexible. Some people attend regularly, while others join only when they have a specific question or issue.
Who should participate?
Regulators, adopters, business leaders, and engineers are all encouraged to join. While engineers will always remain welcome, the Council is now especially focused on business leaders, prospective adopters, and regulators. Anyone who is considering adoption and is facing obstacles to implementation is encouraged to bring their questions or concerns. The Council is also a helpful place for adopters to meet one another and learn how to collaborate on inclusive payment systems.
How can people get involved with the Product Council?
People can get involved by emailing Paul Makin directly at pmakin@mojaloop.io or by joining the Product Council Slack channel. Notifications about upcoming sessions are posted in Slack and if you email Paul to express interest, he will send calendar invitations with details about upcoming meetings.
There is no required authorization, and there are no prerequisites for skills or experience. We welcome anyone who wants to listen, ask questions, or share practical insights based on how they use Mojaloop services.
What do you wish more people knew about the Product Council?
The Council truly does shape the product. When participants raise questions or provide feedback, their input can directly influence the design of Mojaloop. Product Council discussions have a strong influence on individual work streams, which means that ideas shared in these meetings can become part of the product, or, for longer-term ideas, incorporated into the roadmap. If you have a business idea or are considering integrating Mojaloop to deliver a service, the Product Council is a direct way to contribute to and influence product development.
The Council also aligns with the Community Council, the Design Authority, and the Governing Board. These groups collectively help shape Mojaloop’s long-term direction. Participation in the Product Council can help your organization become more visible and may increase your ability to gain future support.
What are some success stories?
Several community-raised issues have led to major improvements in Mojaloop.
Deployment challenges were a common concern, especially around integrating multiple financial institutions. These conversations led to dedicated workstreams that produced new tools to make deployment more affordable and easier for adopters and Digital Financial Services Providers.
Performance concerns also prompted action. A workstream was formed to optimize the Mojaloop hub after adopters reported that performance did not meet their needs. The results have been significant. Mojaloop can now support national-scale payment volumes. Mojaloop also collaborated with AWS to test and measure these improvements. Stay tuned for our forthcoming white paper with the performance results.
Conclusion
The Product Council plays an important role in guiding Mojaloop’s evolution. As the technology matures, the Council serves as a bridge between community needs and product development. Participation is open, flexible, and designed to support adopters, regulators, and partners who want to help build inclusive digital financial systems.
If you want to influence where Mojaloop goes next, join the Product Council and let the Community know what you think.
