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.

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46 results

  1. Center for Technology and Society, Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School

    Policy Activation Grant

    60 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Brazil
    Project lead: Luca Belli

    The Center for Technology and Society at Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School, Rio de Janeiro will study how governance models in BRICS countries influence financial inclusion, consumer protection, and digital payment infrastructure. Focusing on Brazil and India, the project will analyze how policy, regulation, and institutional design shape end-user outcomes and the adoption of open, interoperable systems such as the Interledger Protocol. The research aims to generate insights for policymakers on how governance choices determine whether digital financial systems are inclusive, competitive, and accessible.

  2. Social Web Foundation

    Grant for the Web 2.0

    208 500 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: United States
    Project lead: Evan Prodromou

    The Social Web Foundation advocates for interoperable social networks that use web standards. It develops technology standards and operational resources. With a grant from the Interledger Foundation, the Social Web Foundation is researching sustainable revenue and operating models for digital publishers and community-run platforms. The research will explore four key areas: - Creator economy: How can individual subject matter experts build and maintain their audience relationships without relying on centralized social media platforms? - Web Monetization and multimedia: How can content other than webpages (e.g., podcasts, short- and long-form video) benefit from tools like Web Monetization or Open Payments? - Sustainability: How can federated social web community servers operate with sustainable revenue and governance models? - Cooperatives: How can the legal and operational challenges of collectively-owned and operated community infrastructure be solved?

  3. ARTICLE 19

    Policy Activation Grant

    50 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Netherlands
    Project lead: Michael Caster

    ARTICLE 19 will map how Hong Kong authorities obtain financial data from overseas financial service providers and what companies do (or fail to do) when responding to such requests. They will deliver (1) legal and policy briefings on US and UK pathways for data access and their human-rights implications; (2) a review of major payment and platform companies’ privacy and transparency practices; and (3) a bilingual (English/Cantonese) practical guide for Hong Kong civil society and a companion resource for fintechs on rights-respecting responses to government requests.

  4. 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.

  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. Dr. Muhammad Shabbir

    Call for Papers

    5 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: Pakistan
    Project lead: Muhammad Shabbir

    Banking on Rights: A Case Study of Digital Financial Inclusion for Blind Persons in Pakistan Following coordinated advocacy involving DPOs (Disabled Persons’ Organizations), technologists, and legal experts, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued guidelines on 5 December 2014, urging banks to facilitate blind customers through digital banking services. However, these guidelines have resulted in inconsistent implementation. In June 2021, the SBP introduced a comprehensive Policy for Financial Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, mandating banks to develop Boardapproved strategies for the inclusion of PWDs as customers and employees. This policy emphasizes the need for accessible digital banking platforms, staff training, and the establishment of model branches equipped to serve PWDs. Yet it failed to mandate the accessibility of mobile apps and websites—a vital omission, given that digital platforms are now the primary mode of banking in Pakistan. Thus, while access has improved in theory, significant challenges remain in practice. This research seeks to document this evolution as a case of regulatory disruption from the margins and examines the implications for rights-based financial governance in the Global South.

  9. 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.

  10. Mila T. Samdub

    Call for Papers

    5 000 USD

    Total amount committed

    • Location: United Kingdom
    Project lead: Mila T. Samdub

    Interrogating Digital Financial Inclusion: DPI, Fintech, Microfinance and the Enduring Importance of Social and Public Infrastructures. This article will be written collaboratively by a policy researcher working on DPI, ideology and the Indian tech industry (Samdub 2023, 2025) and an anthropologist working on microcredit, regulation and financial inclusion (Kaushal 2022, 2025). We will take a mixed-methods approach to these questions, grounded in our prior research and disciplinary training. This will largely consist of desk research into current DPI policy supplemented by economic data, expert interviews, ethnographic detail and secondary research into the history of financial inclusion in India. The ethnographic evidence is derived from prior research with low-income borrowers across Indian cities, with a special focus on women borrowers and fintech users (Kaushal 2025).