Bill Gates cites MOSIP as pathway and enabler of digital financial inclusion in interview with CNBCTV18
15-12-2020
“Financial inclusion doesn’t just happen. For it to be successful, a whole range of actors need to work together...no one actor has all the answers, and everyone has something to bring to the table.” - HM Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
MOSIP, conceived as a Digital Public Good (DPG) as part of IIITB’s endeavor to maximize open source to enable societal development, has recently received a slew of recognition and mentions for its work. It is fast gaining relevance and traction among countries aspiring to build their digital fID systems. These countries, in various stages of their implementation journey, are leveraging the platform, customizing it to their needs, and unlocking its value and potential It is increasingly becoming apparent that MOSIP can also be leveraged on multiple fronts against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic including tracking health and enabling financial inclusion. The recent reference by Bill Gates of MOSIP’s potential as a trusted and model digital financial inclusion enabler could not validate our credentials better or in a more relevant manner..
In an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18 on 8 December 2020, Bill Gates articulates his belief that financial saving and transacting should be universal. However, this is not possible with traditional systems due to prohibitive costs. He said that with a robust system in place in countries such as India, one can have digital financial inclusion.
Bill, who is also the founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which funds MOSIP, added, "The role of the Gates Foundation as an advocate for those who don't have access to financial inclusion, is to make sure that there is technology and standards, including open source work that we are providing through the financial switch which is called Mojaloop and through the digital identity system (.....) called MOSIP."
Bill predicts several countries rolling out the financial switch and the identity system based on these open source technologies, and being able to catch up with what India and others have done in reaching Government benefit programs to the poorest, more efficiently.
In the interview, he also outlines the role of the private sector in enabling financial inclusion, the importance of scaling up, and the need for financial systems to reimagine themselves in support. While illustrating how India plugged leaks and overhead costs of government benefit programs, he cited India as a role model country with phenomenal innovation around the system. Watch the interview here.