Mobile money and humanitarian assistance: How open APIs enable a fast, low-cost, and secure delivery channel
The GSMA Inclusive Tech Lab revealed the result of a survey with nearly 100 third-party service providers across 12 industry verticals, which included the humanitarian sector, to understand the challenges of integrating with Mobile Money Providers (MMPs). The report explored how partnerships between humanitarian providers and MMPs established via open APIs can facilitate cash aid in emergency situations. It found that given the increasingly complex humanitarian landscape, humanitarians need new ways of supporting communities. To this aim, cash and voucher assistance has emerged as a key form of humanitarian support as it can provide greater dignity, the choice for recipients as well as strengthen local markets. Today, 17.9% (US$5.6bn) of humanitarian aid is provided in the form of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) (up from 10.6% in 2016), with US$192m CVA disbursements via mobile money.
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