[Shenzhen, China, Nov. 18, 2016] Huawei announced today that it will be one of the first major partners of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s (Gates Foundation) initiative the Level One Project. The initiative is focused on developing and deploying digital financial services that serve customers at all levels of the financial pyramid. These scalable, low-cost, interoperable and fraud resistant payment systems will be based on open Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) and help people in the world’s poorest regions improve their lives and build sustainable futures by connecting them with digitally based financial tools and services.

Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, Gates Foundation and Ali Shi, President of Huawei BSS Product Line, sign the agreement.

Today, 2 billion adults are excluded from the formal economy because they lack access to formal financial services. Because they rely almost entirely on cash, they are ill-equipped to weather financial shocks such as illness, crop failures, livestock deaths, farming-equipment breakdowns, and ceremonial expenses. Digital financial services (DFS) that allow for personal savings accounts, insurance, credit, or cash transfers are critical for helping people pull themselves out of poverty for good.

As a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, Huawei is applying the core expertise to bring communications and broadband to all, create shared value and contribute to the communities where it operates. Huawei has promoted the application of ICT in sectors such as education, healthcare, and finance. These technologies have significantly increased resource utilization efficiency and are playing a meaningful role in driving forward the sustainable development agenda.

Huawei's mobile money solution allows telecom companies and banks to provide efficient and cost-effective financial services to consumers, thereby enabling easier purchases, transfers, saving, borrowing, and insurance. As part of the Level One Project, Huawei will join partners such as DFS platform providers, industry associations, governing bodies, technology firms, banks and others in a collaborative effort to establish the global baseline for interoperability, which will promote economic growth for all. More information is available at the leveloneproject.org.

“Huawei’s commitment to developing and deploying open, interoperable systems demonstrates the leadership and collaboration that is necessary to build a universally accessible and affordable digital financial system. The Level One Project principles set the course for low-cost or no-cost financial services that will benefit everyone, especially the unbanked poor,” said Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, of the Gates Foundation.

“We are very proud to be a part of this initiative and to leverage the strong position that Huawei occupies in the global telecom sector to support efforts to sustainably reach poor and low-income customers,” said Ali Shi, President of Huawei BSS Product Line. “We will enable any provider of technology or financial services to benefit from the Open APIs we create.”