Grantee Directory

Projects and organizations funded by the Interledger Foundation, working to expand access to digital financial services around the world.

The Work in Practice

Interledger grantees work across the world in different financial environments, from regions with limited infrastructure to highly connected digital economies. They include community-based organizations, researchers, technologists, and advocates who build infrastructure, advance research, shape policy, and expand how financial systems work in practice.

Year
2025

17 results

  1. Alabama A&M University Foundation

    NextGen Higher Education

    50 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: United States
    Project lead: Sonya Merritt

    Dollarcraft: Digital Banking Launch Program is a 13-week interdisciplinary initiative that equips students with practical skills in financial innovation, digital payments, and entrepreneurship through mentorship, applied research, and a culminating Hackathon. Launching as a two-semester pilot in Spring and Fall 2026, the program engages distinct student cohorts to develop real-world solutions addressing financial challenges in underserved communities.

  2. AllianceDFA Research into Instant Payment System Inclusivity

    Policy Activation Grant

    57 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: South Africa
    Project lead: Sarah Corley

    This grant will support the Alliance of Digital Finance and Fintech Associations (AllianceDFA) to lead a global initiative aimed at making Instant Payment Systems more inclusive for fintechs and non-bank actors. The project will assess barriers to participation, amplify the voices of inclusive finance providers, and develop actionable recommendations to improve governance, access, and scalability across regions including Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

    View project details (se abre en una pestaña nueva)

  3. Dr. Senka Hadzic

    Call for Papers

    500 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Portugal
    Project lead: Dr. Senka Hadzic

    Contribution to the Call for Papers blog publication track to expand upon their Call for Paper initial submission in the form of a public-oriented blog post that maintains intellectual rigour while engaging a broader, interdisciplinary readership.

  4. Keerty Nakray

    Call for Papers

    500 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: India
    Project lead: Keerty Nakray

    Contribution to the Call for Papers blog publication track to expand upon their Call for Paper initial submission in the form of a public-oriented blog post that maintains intellectual rigour while engaging a broader, interdisciplinary readership.

  5. The Hague University of Applied Sciences

    NextGen Higher Education

    49 480 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Netherlands
    Project lead: Aleksandra Asscheman

    The “Future of Open Payments” course is a 5 ECTS interdisciplinary pilot that equips law and finance students with expertise in open payment technologies, regulatory frameworks, and financial inclusion through applied learning and real-world case studies. By combining technical, legal, and entrepreneurial perspectives, the program builds a talent pipeline for open payments while enabling students to design and pitch innovative fintech solutions addressing global financial challenges.

  6. Chenai Chair

    Call for Papers

    5 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: South Africa
    Project lead: Chenai Chair

    Data for financial inclusion? An assessment of immigrants experiences with remittance platforms for financial inclusion. This submission connects to issues and topics across three topic areas. Specifically our research will highlight the following topics: Case studies of financial inclusion or exclusion at the margins Inclusion across the spectrum of financial products and services; Mobile operators and non-financial firms in the financial landscape, and Digital identity verification, data protection, and cross-border compliance.

  7. Chioma Nwaiwu

    Call for Papers

    5 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Nigeria
    Project lead: Chioma Nwaiwu

    Financial Inclusion at the Margins: Forcibly Displaced Persons, Gender gaps and the Potential of Open Payment Interoperability in Nigeria. This paper draws on a 2024 CBN-led diagnostic survey across seven states (Adamawa, Borno, Benue, Cross River, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara)—where over 60% of IDPs reside—to examine financial inclusion among IDPs in camps, IDPs in host communities, refugees, and local residents. Though the current National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) (2021–2024) does not explicitly target forcibly displaced persons (FDPs), its emphasis on underserved regions, KYC constraints, and non-bank delivery channels aligns with many of their barriers. The diagnostic lays the foundation for FDP inclusion in Nigeria's upcoming NFIS strategy, highlighting that without intentional targeting, FDPs—especially women and rural dwellers—will remain structurally excluded.

  8. Fernanda Pizarro Munoz

    Call for Papers

    5 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Chile
    Project lead: Fernanda Pizarro Munoz

    The Magallanes Experiment: How Open Payment Protocols Can Redesign Financial Inclusion in Chile’s Borderlands. This paper examines regulatory gaps in Chile’s payment policies (e.g., Transbank’s monopoly, Fintech Law 2023) and proposes reforms to mandate interoperability as public infrastructure, inspired by models like India’s UPI. It then explores ILP’s technical potential to enable low-cost, cross-border payments in Magallanes, formalizing informal transactions while ensuring security and public oversight. By linking policy (central bank mandates, antitrust rules) with technology (decentralized protocols, governance standards), the paper argues that interoperable systems—when embedded in law—can empower marginalized regions, turning Magallanes into a blueprint for financially excluded yet digitally connected territories worldwide.

  9. Smashing Magazine

    Grant for the Web

    58 359 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Germany
    Project lead: Mariona Jones

    Smashing Magazine publishes reliable, useful, and practical articles about web design and development written by industry experts. With a grant from the Interledger Foundation, Smashing Magazine is experimenting with Web Monetization as an additional revenue model and creating educational content for web developers.

  10. Sophia Collender

    Call for Papers

    5 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: United States
    Project lead: Sophia Collender

    How Money Could Move Us: The Feasibility of Payment Interoperability Among Global Mass Transit Systems. This paper will investigate both the potential and the potential challenges of embracing interoperable digital transaction systems as the primary form of payment within mass transit systems around the world, specifically exploring how the Interledger Protocol (ILP) — a protocol the enables rapid interoperable payments — could be pivotal to this aim. By examining the current successes and failures of mass transit payment structures in various cities, this paper will form a comprehensive summary of how the Interledger Protocol (ILP) might act as a vehicle for enabling both greater economic and physical mobility. It will synthesize the findings of case study examples that explore how interoperable digital payments have already been deployed in order to facilitate greater financial access, and what barriers those systems have faced. The qualitative and quantitative insights drawn from this analysis will be applied towards building directly on the summary understanding of the current state of mass transit payment systems in order to draw conclusions about how ILP can most effectively be used to expand access to transit on a global scale.