The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (AID), has announced the award of its “First to Market” prize of USD 2.5 million to Jamaica-based mobile operator Digicel and its Canadian partner bank ScotiaBank as part of the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI), a competition created by the US-funded Haiti Integrated Finance for Value Chains and Enterprises (HIFIVE) in June 2010 to encourage partnerships between mobile operators and banks to launch mobile money programs. Chief of Party of HIFIVE, Greta Greenhouse, reflected that mobile financial services could possibly help alleviate some of the damage caused by the earthquake that took place in Haiti in January 2010. The competition, she comments, is meant to encourage a rapid response by providing the poor with immediate access to financial services that are not available from Haiti’s banks. The competition requires partnerships to develop, market and widely implement their services within an 18-month period [1].
About the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Based in the US, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides grants to organizations in approximately 100 countries around the world with the aim of enhancing health care, reducing poverty and expanding educational opportunities and access to information technology. As of September 2009, its endowment totaled USD 34 billion. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative focuses on providing people with secure places to save money. To support this initiative, the foundation works with financial organizations to increase access to technology (point of sales devices, automated teller machines, etc.) and forge partnerships between mobile phone companies, banks and microfinance institutions. It also supports the startup and growth of new banks in challenging markets.
By Diana Baide, Research Associate
[1] CGAP. “Haiti: Could mobile banking be a legacy of the earthquake?” by Chris Bold, 11 January 2010.
http://technology.cgap.org/2011/01/11/haiti-could-mobile-banking-be-a-legacy-of-the-earthquake/
MicroCapital. “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gates Foundation, USAID Offer $15m to Initiators of Mobile Money Services in Haiti” by MicroCapital Team, 11 June 2010
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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