GSMA and WFP accelerate use of mobile financial services for humanitarian assistance

The GSMA and UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced a three-year collaboration that aims to use mobile money to deliver digital assistance through cash based transfers to save lives in global emergencies, including pandemics and natural disasters. With support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the partnership will hinge on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the digital cash transfer process, starting in Nigeria and expanding to other countries. To this aim, the GSMA will support the WFP to access mobile money industry initiatives through: (a) the GSMA Mobile Money Certification initiative, which ensures a provider’s ability to deliver safe, secure, and reliable services while protecting the rights of consumers; and (b) the Mobile Money API, a GSMA-led industry initiative which provides a harmonised specification to access mobile money services across multiple providers and markets, making it simple and secure to integrate for assistance seamlessly.