Gates Foundation offers funding opportunity for feature phone based digital payment solutions

The CIIE.CO entrepreneurship center in India, the National Payments Corporation of India, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have launched a request for proposals - for innovators around the world - seeking new digital payment solutions that make transactions easy and secure for feature phone users in India.

The program aims at identifying promising payment solutions for feature phone users, ensuring:

• Simplified user onboarding
• Enhanced transaction experience
• Highest security standards
• Automated dispute resolution

SOLUTIONS EXPECTED

• Real-time issue resolution mechanisms
• Improved payment interfaces and workflows
• Integrated bill payment features
• Enhanced P2P and merchant payment solutions
• Enhanced security with end-to-end encryption
• Any other solution relevant for feature phone users

PRIZES

The rewards include monetary and non-monetary support to the top innovations emerging from this Grand Challenge.

Opportunity to pilot the solution with NPCI

First Prize: USD 50,000

Second Prize: USD 30,000

Third Prize: USD 20,000

Acceleration support from CIIE.CO’s Bharat Inclusion Initiative

Call for application is open from 21^st Nov. 2019

Application deadline closes on January 12th, 2020.

(Pic courtesy: CIIE.CO)