Bill Gates offers Rs 36 lakh award to develop UPI app for feature phones

Bill Gates has offered a reward of Rs 36 lakh for developers who can create digital payments solution for feature phones.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become immensely popular as a medium of transaction across India. Reports suggest that around one billion transactions happen via UPI every month. However, less than a million UPI transactions happen on feature phones in a month, owing to the dearth of UPI applications for feature phones.

Now, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has joined hands with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and CIIE.CO to launch a grand challenge where start-ups and individuals from all around the world can develop digital payment solutions for feature phones. According to the web portal for the challenge, participants will have to create payment solutions that can ensure easier user onboarding, better transaction experience, automated dispute resolution and high security standards, as well as any other relevant solution.

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The last date to submit entries is January 12, 2020. The shortlisted applicants will be provided access to NPCI APIs which they can use to start building their solutions within the set technical parameters. Experts at NPCI will continue to provide technical support to the start-ups from February to March to help them streamline their solutions. The final showcase and winner selection will happen on March 14, 2020.

Three winners will be chosen in the grand challenge, with the first place holder winning $50,000 (around Rs 36 lakh). The second place and third place holders will receive $30,000 (around Rs 21.53 lakh) and $ 20,000 (Rs 14.35 lakh), respectively. The start-ups will also develop the solution with NPCI and receive acceleration support from CIIE.CO.

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