2023-05-04 Meeting notes: P2G Voucher payments + clarification on account mapper

 Date

May 4, 2023

 Participants

  • @Kibuuka, Arnold

  • @Oscar Correia

  • @Mauree, Venkatesen

  • @Soban Najam

  • @Rabia Najam

  • @Ali Mesia

 Goals

  • Propose methods for P2G payments using vouchers

  • Account Mapper onboarding Discussion - process review

 Discussion topics

Item

Notes

Item

Notes

Use of vouchers for P2G payments

  • @Oscar Correia pointed out that Initially envisaged as a physical item, but can also be digital (QR code or number shared via text). The purpose was to provide payment options for those without bank accounts or mobile money accounts.

  • @Oscar Correia also pointed out the voucher design:

    • Vouchers are first pre-activated, then activated.

    • Can be sent via bulk payment or issued during registration.

    • Can be redeemed at registered merchants (for goods/services) or agents (for cash).

    • Redemption can be done with or without authentication.

    • Funds move from a prefunded account to the merchant's/agent's account upon redemption.

  • @Soban Najam raised the following concerns:

    • If payment value is less than voucher value, either funds provisioned won't be fully utilized, or the voucher would need to be multi-use.

    • Potential issues with reconciliation processes and returning unused funds. c. Consideration of multi-use vouchers

  • @Oscar Correia proposed the following key Assumption:

    • Voucher will be used in full, No mechanism in place for tracking voucher balance if not used in full, Example: voucher used to offset school fees partially or fully.

  • He also pointed out the following challenges for P2G:

    • If voucher amount is greater than payment amount, tracking balance and adjusting it becomes difficult.

    • Enhancements needed to the current design to allow for partial redemption. Possibility of restricting use cases for the first phase and addressing partial redemption in a future phase.


Account Mapper and Bulk Payment Link Discussion:


Discussed the handling of financial addresses and onboarding process flow.

  • @Mauree, Venkatesen pointed out contradictions with requirement specs regarding storing the financial address in the Mapper.

  • @Mauree, Venkatesen proposed getting financial address information from FSPs or from the person directly after authentication.

  • @Soban Najam pointed out that the payment building block can't handle authentication and verification, as they only have a functional ID, which is meaningless without foundational ID or phone numbers. He suggested that the registration building block should handle authentication and verification, exposing a web page or SMS interface for beneficiaries to input their financial address.

  • Soban Najam explained that the registration/registry building block can provide the functional ID at runtime, and the beneficiary doesn't need to know the functional ID.

  • @Mauree, Venkatesen mentioned that the registry building block should handle eligibility verification and notify the user of their application status through the messaging building block.

  • @Soban Najam confirmed that the registry building block will use their API to register in the Mapper. Soban Najam reiterated that the API will be consumed at runtime to post financial information directly into the account Mapper, ensuring that it's not retained elsewhere

  • Further discussion is needed to ensure a shared understanding and alignment on the handling of financial addresses.

  • @Soban Najam shared an example from India, where a centralized and decentralized structure is used for proxies. Aliases can be free text fields or fixed lists, such as email addresses or phone numbers.

 Action items

@Oscar Correia to provide an initial write-up for the redemption process for P2G payments for vouchers and share it on Confluence by Monday.
@Oscar Correia to review P2G reports provided by Soban and provide comments by the end of the week.
@Soban Najam to clarify further on the onboarding of the beneficiary in the G2P use case documents

 Decisions