Blockchain for Change, a New York City startup has developed a mobile app called Fummi which is preloaded onto a free smartphone which allows the homeless to manage their digital identity, access shelters and food pantries, and make use of financial services. The initiative uses blockchain technology, and may be the first time a distributed ledger has been employed to help a homeless population.
It has teamed up with Life Wireless, which provides phones to low-income groups using federal subsidies. Life Wireless is distributing the phones in the Bronx initially. NYC service providers such as Urban Pathways, Part of the Solution (POTS), Hakook and the Robin Hood Foundation create the blockchain identities for individuals. Once on the system they can open an account, receive money, and track their activity. The app shows when someone has checked into a shelter, how much they paid for showers, haircuts, and clothes, and their available balance.
More than 60,000 people spend the night in shelters in New York, and many don’t have digital identities which restricts their access to financial services and government programs, where identity needs to be authenticated.
Blockchain for Change has two big purposes. The first to help the homeless access services they are entitled to, and at discount prices. The app (currently only on Android) includes a digital wallet that can hold both dollars and a cryptocurrency created for the project called Change Coin. When users sign up, they get 30 Change Coins free of charge. They can obtain more coins as they buy services through the platform, meet financial goals, refer friends or take part in peer-to-peer lending programs. The coins can be redeemed for more talk-time or data on the phone.
The second is to help service providers, both private and public, link up with the homeless more efficiently. The app creates an internal “ecosystem” for ID, payments, and services so transaction costs are minimized. Because a person’s ID is stored permanently and inviolably on a blockchain, there is no need to “onboard” recipients as they come on and off of services.
Blockchain for Change sees this New York pilot as a first step. By the end of the second quarter of 2018, it hopes to have distributed 200,000 Fummi-enabled phones through Life Wireless.
Visit the Blockchain for Change Whitepaper to learn more.