Quick answer: Mojaloop, ISO 20022, and Interledger are three layers of the same idea: letting separate payment systems exchange value using shared rules instead of custom connections. Mojaloop is open-source payments software designed around the Interledger Protocol (ILP), which routes value between different ledgers. ISO 20022 is the global standard for the message format that carries payment instructions. Together they let a mobile money provider in one country and a bank in another understand each other and settle.
Updated 07/17/2026. By Jake Claver. Educational content, not investment advice.
Cross-border payments are slow partly because systems speak different languages. One network formats a payment message one way, another formats it differently, and reconciling the two adds cost and delay. Standards fix that. Each claim below traces back to a named primary source.
Mojaloop is built on the Interledger Protocol
Mojaloop’s design is inherently built around the open Interledger Protocol. ILP is a set of standards that moves value across different ledgers and payment networks the way the internet moves data. It breaks a payment into small packets and routes them through intermediaries called connectors, which coordinate currency exchange and transfer between ledgers. The Interledger Foundation describes this as adding a missing layer to the internet: the ability to move value as easily as information. That is what lets schemes in different currencies and countries interconnect through foreign exchange and settlement providers rather than bespoke integrations, a point the Mojaloop executive briefing makes directly.
What ISO 20022 is, and why messaging standards matter
ISO 20022 is the global standard for financial messaging: a common, structured format for the data inside a payment instruction. Richer, standardized data means fewer failed or manually repaired payments and easier compliance checks. The Bank for International Settlements treats fragmented messaging standards as a core source of cross-border friction. In its Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures work, the BIS published 12 harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for cross-border payments (October 2023), developed with the Payments Market Practice Group and more than 50 stakeholders, and encouraged market participants to align by the end of 2027. The goal is a single, consistent way to describe a payment so that systems worldwide can process it without translation.
How Mojaloop adopted ISO 20022
Mojaloop implements ISO 20022 as an alternative to its native FSPIOP API, using a JSON variant of ISO 20022 messages, per the Mojaloop ISO 20022 documentation. The platform keeps its three-phase transaction model, Discovery, Agreement, and Transfer, while carrying the data in the standardized format. The technical detail worth noting is where Interledger sits in that flow: Mojaloop implements ILP v4 for secure message signing and non-repudiation, so ILP provides the cryptographic assurance underneath the ISO 20022 messages. The market-practice specifics are maintained openly in the Mojaloop ISO 20022 GitHub repository.
Cross-currency transfers and remittances
The combination matters most where money crosses currencies. Mojaloop’s ISO 20022 support includes cross-currency transactions with foreign exchange provider integration, which is exactly the scenario in remittances: a sender in one currency, a recipient in another, and a settlement path in between. The World Bank has examined distributed-ledger approaches and the Interledger Protocol as ways to lower the cost of moving remittances across those corridors, in its work on distributed ledgers and Interledger for remittances. Standards do not move money on their own, but they remove a large part of the manual work that makes small transfers expensive.
Why this matters
Interoperability is unglamorous plumbing, and that is precisely why it matters. When separate payment systems can understand each other through a shared message standard and route value through a common protocol, the marginal cost of adding a new participant or a new corridor falls. That is the practical case for open payments software and messaging standards: lower integration cost, fewer failed payments, and broader reach for the mobile money systems that serve people outside traditional banking. This is an infrastructure story. It is not a claim about any token or company, and none of it implies a specific investment outcome.
Common questions
What is the Interledger Protocol?
The Interledger Protocol (ILP) is an open set of standards for moving value across different ledgers and payment networks. It packetizes payments and routes them through intermediaries called connectors, which handle currency exchange and transfer between systems, so networks using different technologies or currencies can interconnect.
How does Mojaloop use ISO 20022?
Mojaloop implements ISO 20022 as an alternative to its native FSPIOP API, using a JSON variant of ISO 20022 messages while keeping its three-phase Discovery, Agreement, and Transfer model. It also implements ILP v4 for secure message signing and non-repudiation.
What is ISO 20022?
ISO 20022 is the global standard for financial messaging, defining a common structured format for the data inside payment instructions. Richer, standardized data reduces failed payments and eases compliance, which is why the BIS published 12 harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for cross-border payments.
Is Mojaloop a blockchain or cryptocurrency?
No. Mojaloop is open-source payments interoperability software. It uses the Interledger Protocol for routing and message security, but it is not itself a blockchain, a token, or a cryptocurrency you can buy.
Why do payment messaging standards reduce cost?
When every system formats payment data the same way, there is less manual repair, fewer rejected transfers, and simpler compliance. That is the friction the BIS and G20 cross-border payments programme target through harmonised ISO 20022 adoption, with an alignment goal of the end of 2027.
This content is educational only. It is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
