SEATTLE (AP) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday is announcing its first prize for helping Haitians get easier access to cash through their cell phones.
Haitian mobile phone company Digicel is getting $2.5 million from the foundation.
The prize recognizes Digicel as the first company to launch a mobile money service in Haiti that meets certain criteria. The foundation has a total of $10 million it plans to give away to companies that help Haitians with mobile banking.
The development prize was announced in June as a way to push the Haitian marketplace toward change. Besides death and destruction, last year’s earthquake in Haiti also devastated the country’s financial system.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has added another $5 million to the project for technical assistance.
