Bill Gates will give you ₹36 lakh to create UPI app for feature phones in India

Do you want to earn ₹36 lakh? If you do, Bill Gates has a special challenge for you. If you win, you get to take ₹36 lakh home.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) and CII.CO to launch a grand challenge for startups and individuals across the globe. As a part of the challenge, participants have to develop a software solution that would enable feature phone users in India to access Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app on their phones.

Digital transactions have gained popularity in India over the past couple of years. With a million transactions a month, UPI is driving a vast majority of these digital payments in the country. Despite its popularity and ease of use, nearly half a billion people in India are unable to use it. Reason? Absence of support for UPI app in feature phones. Now, the grand challenge launched by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and NCPI aims to fill this gap.

As mentioned before, all you need to do is develop an easy-to-use and secure payments solution that uses UPI for facilitating digital transactions on feature phones.

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If you win, you will be given a prize money of $50,000 ( ₹35.85 lakh approximately). The good news is that the foundation will be rewarding top three developers who win this challenge. So, the startup or individual or startup that bags the second spot will get $30,000 ( ₹21.5 lakh approximately), and the solution that bags the third spot will get $20,000 ( ₹14.34 lakh approximately).

The entries for the competition close on January 12, 2020. So, you still have a chance to bag that prize money. The winners of the grand challenge will be announced on March 14, 2020.