I-Corps Teams: Leaf Global Fintech: Virtual Banking Beyond Borders

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响是使一个服务不足的市场成为可能？难民？通过移动终端和区块链技术获得正规金融服务。通过这个项目，难民将能够避免在逃离冲突时携带现金，保留在逃亡期间通常失去的储蓄，并创造一个经济身份，在一个新的国家建立自己。跨境数字金融服务的结果包括：（1）难民将增加获得资金的机会，这对长期健康和教育产生积极影响;（2）难民将减少对东道国和外国援助的依赖;（3）跨境贸易将增加，从而加强区域安全。这一项目的商业潜力很大，因为难民已被证明是商业银行的一个可行市场，但历来被排除在正规金融系统之外。在2018年全球被迫流离失所的6800万人中，60%的人可以使用移动的网络，这些网络为提供数字金融服务提供了基础设施，即使没有智能手机。新的区块链技术使跨境金融服务变得有利可图，以前的金额太小而无法盈利，从而向金字塔底部的个人开放市场。这个I-Corps项目旨在解决如何使用现有的移动的网络和消费者行为模式在低技术环境中提供虚拟金融服务。该技术利用移动的货币作为客户的现金进出点，这是一种在新兴市场常见的基于USSD的系统。交易存储在一个透明的（但去识别的）数字分类账上，可以安全地跟踪跨境和法定货币的资产。区块链技术为满足弱势群体的金融需求提供了新的方式，而低技术前端则确保了在分销具有挑战性的环境中的采用。客户使用自定义的USSD/SMS界面来创建帐户，汇款，检查余额，并跨境支付资金。客户身份是使用生物识别技术管理的，如面部和声音识别以及PIN。这种与USSD和区块链集成的跨境数字储蓄产品从未提供过。该平台可靠地连接身份，并提供资产存储和跨境运输的独特组合。跨境资金流动的数字化可以减少高达80%的盗窃和腐败。该项目旨在证明通过移动的网络基础设施提供的虚拟金融服务可以为历史上被排除在正规经济之外的人群带来新的机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估而被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this I-Corps project is to enable an underserved market?refugees?to access formal financial services through a mobile device and blockchain technology. Through this project, refugees will be able to avoid carrying cash while escaping conflict, retain access to savings typically lost during flight, and create an economic identity to establish themselves in a new country. The results of cross-border digital financial services include: (1) refugees will experience increased access to funds, which positively impacts long-term health and education; (2) refugees will be less dependent upon host states and foreign aid; (3) cross-border trade will increase, thus bolstering regional security. The commercial potential of this project is large, as refugees have been proven a viable market for commercial banking but have historically been excluded from the formal financial system. Of the 68 million people forcibly displaced around the world in 2018, 60% have access to mobile networks that provide the infrastructure for offering digital financial services even without a smartphone. New blockchain technology makes cross-border financial services lucrative with amounts previously too small to be profitable, thus opening the market to individuals at the bottom of the pyramid. This I-Corps project seeks to address how to deliver virtual financial services in low technology environments using existing mobile networks and consumer behavior patterns. The technology utilizes mobile money, a USSD-based system common in emerging markets, as the cash-in and out point for customers. Transactions are stored on a transparent (yet de-identified) digital ledger that securely tracks assets across borders and fiat currencies. Blockchain technology presents new ways of meeting the financial needs of vulnerable populations, while a low-tech front-end ensures adoption in environments in which distribution is challenging. Customers use a custom USSD/SMS interface to create an account, send money for safekeeping, check balance, and disburse funds across borders. Customer identity is managed using biometrics such as facial and vocal recognition and a PIN. This type of cross-border, digital savings product integrated with USSD and blockchain has never been offered. The platform reliably links identity and provides the unique combination of asset storage and transport across borders. The digitization of cross-border money movement could reduce theft and corruption by up to 80%. This project seeks to prove that virtual financial services offered through mobile network infrastructure can bring new access to populations historically excluded from the formal economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.