MONI has developed a prepaid debit card that circumvents the need for a bank account or identity papers. The card is linked to a unique digital identity stored on a blockchain – the same technology that underpins Bitcoin and other digital currencies.World Economic Forum
Two years ago, MONI partnered with the Finnish government to provide refugees with their monthly allowance, which until then had been paid in cash....
Finland has created a digital money system for refugees
Alex Gray
8 comments:
I don't understand this. If those are euros they have to have a bank connection somehow. Is finnish Central Bank providing a service?
If those are euros they have to have a bank connection somehow. Is finnish Central Bank providing a service?
Sounds like it if MONI is "partnered" with the Finnish government.
Why is it better than traditional money?
And why does they need a bank account to get traditional money, and they don't need one to get this MONI card?
Doesn't make sense. There is something wrong
It's a prepaid mastercard that clears via a 'shadow bank'.
The MONI company has the bank account and leverages that to provide the clearing services. It's just a 21st century version of a building society.
But a prepaid mastercard doesn't need blockchain technology.
And why would you need to have identity papers to get a traditional prepaid mastercard, and not for a MONI card?
It doesn't seem to be about technology. It seems to be about incoherent lawmakers that are making different laws for what is in essence the same financial instrument...
"But a prepaid mastercard doesn't need blockchain technology."
It's a bit like a visa debit. It doesn't go through the visa system really unless its via a different payment provider. I suspect the blockchain technology is just the way they are doing internal clearing between cards - rather than the usual two phase stuff via a central database.
It just sounds sexy on the press release.
I think the takeaway is that it is an apparently successful workaround avoiding the accustomed channels. It's off the books, so to speak. This is happening increasingly for a variety of reasons.
Tom, it is as off the books as any visa/master/banking transaction. It's all in the internal systems of those companies.
Too much fuss about blockchain...
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