2014 E-Pay Innovation Awards at Transact14

By guest blogger: Andrew Barnes, Managing Director, Emerging Payments – Payment Week, Advisor to ETA

May 9, 2014 – I recently had the pleasure of recruiting, selecting, and judging startups from around the world to compete in the 2014 E-Pay Innovation Awards. The awards, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in cooperation with the Electronic Transaction Association (ETA), recognize startups developing innovative financial services for the unbanked and unserved worldwide.

This year’s Payments Next Zone competition far exceeded expectation in terms of the quantity and quality of applicants. From all of the startups worldwide who applied to compete, 10 were selected as finalists to participate in a “shark tank” like competition that took place at TRANSACT 14, the payments industry’s leading forum for leaders, innovators, titans, and game changers. What distinguished the Payments Next Zone finalists, in addition to their technological innovations, was the depth of understanding they displayed for the unbanked markets they serve.

Social Trade Organization (STRO) (www.socialtrade.org) from the Netherlands won top honors and the $50,000 prize for its market-tested Cyclos software (www.cyclos.org). Cyclos is used by local banks, C3 networks, MFIs, and communities creating local currencies, barter exchanges and time banks. Cyclos lets organizations build dedicated payment systems from scratch by changing the configuration without making code changes.

MoWoza (@moWoza), a South African company captured the $20,000 second place prize. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of retail is conducted via informal, small and subsistence micro retailers. These retailers rely on informal supply chains that are predominantly inefficient and fraught with corruption. Suzana Moreira, the founder, is building a virtual supply chain that leverages existing trusted social and business networks. Micro and small business traders can order inventory, access micro insurance and micro credit; and complete transactions anywhere, at any time through their mobile phone without having to travel thousands of kilometers. Ms. Moreira has already signed on the Mozambican and Malawian cross-border associations, local banks and regulators, local agents, and is running extensive end-to-end supply chain testing.

Although there could only be two winners, each of the E-Pay Award finalists showed promise and deserve mention. In addition to STRO and MoWoza, 2014 Payments Next Zone scholarship winners included:

Pulse Wallet
Aimann Rasheed, CEO
www.pulsewallet.com
Great low cost palm recognition for identity verification.

IdentaChip
Clint Feekes, COO
www.identachip.com
Innovative biometric ID verification. (Deployed in Nigeria.)

InVenture
Shivani Siroya, Founder & CEO
www.inventure.org
Alternative credit scoring, micro credit, and financial literacy via mobile transaction tracking. (Deployed in India.)

Medagate
Delvin Wade, President
www.otcnetwork.com
Recently acquired by InComm. Targeted rewards and incentives related to healthcare benefits.

MobaComm
Hilton Warmback, CEO
www.mobacomm.com
Mobile engagement platform.

Money2ethiopia
Bezza Kifle, CFO
www.money2ethiopia.com
Money remittance focused on Ethiopia with sights on greater Africa. Liked their team and their ability to focus and execute on one market first.

Pangea
Rahier Rahman, Founder & CEO
www.gopangea.com
These guys are putting together the payment network of networks. Liked their macro vision and blue chip advisors.

Raspberry
Scott Galvin, CEO
http://raspberry.us
Early in the development cycle, software for transferring funds using a simple text messaging interface.