Brief Project Description
miPlata is a financial platform built for unbanked Latino workers and their families. We bring together three things that have historically existed in silos: payroll infrastructure for employers, digital banking for workers, and cross-border remittances for families back home. Our focus is on creating an end-to-end solution for a community that has long been underserved by traditional financial systems.
Project Update
When we submitted our first report in January 2026, we were finishing up sandbox testing and preparing to move Rafiki into a production environment. Since then, that work has moved forward significantly. miPlata now operates a live Rafiki node on the Interledger network which represents the core technical milestone we committed to when we received this grant.
Here is where things stand today:
- We deployed a self-hosted Rafiki instance on AWS using EKS with WAF and DNS configured for a production environment. This is miPlata's Open Payments node on the Interledger network, running live.
- The miPlata backend is now integrated with Rafiki. Wallet provisioning, quote creation, and outgoing payment execution are all functional end-to-end.
- Each miPlata user now has the capability to have their own wallet address, generated automatically after onboarding and stored on their profile.
- The UI for the Open Payments transfer flow has been defined. The screens below walk through the full payment journey, from initiating a transfer to the final confirmation.
- The architecture diagram below shows how the different pieces connect — from the miPlata app and backend through to the Rafiki node, People's Clearing House, and the broader banking infrastructure.
Project Impact & Target Audience(s)
Our primary audience remains SMB employers in the construction, hospitality, and agriculture sectors who employ unbanked Latino workers. These businesses continue to face significant logistical hurdles and high costs managing physical payroll for unbanked staff. The recent US regulatory environment has reinforced this, with US legislation that took effect on January 1, 2026, making cash-based remittances more expensive for our target users and strengthening the case for a digital alternative.
Project Impact:
For Employers: miPlata automates payroll for unbanked employees, eliminating the operational overhead associated with physical checks. Our employer partnerships now serve as the primary distribution channel for reaching workers at scale.
For Workers: Through employer partnerships, we help unbanked workers access bank accounts, reducing the total cost of accessing their pay and sending remittances to their families abroad by hundreds of dollars a month. With our live Rafiki integration, we are now positioned to route those remittances through the Interledger network, which will enable faster, cheaper, and interoperable cross-border transfers. Additionally, through our USDC stablecoin card, US workers and their families abroad can access banking services with international IDs.
For Families Abroad: The downstream beneficiaries are predominantly women and families in Mexico and Central America who depend on remittance income for basic household needs. Reducing transfer costs and settlement times has a direct, measurable impact on this population.
Progress on Objectives, Key Activities
Since our last report, we've made significant progress across all key objectives:
**Geographic Expansion: **Our stablecoin card solution continues to operate across 16 LATAM countries, maintaining the scope expansion we reported previously and bringing previously unbanked individuals into the financial system — and ultimately onto the Interledger network.
Rafiki Integration Progress: We have moved from sandbox testing to a live, production Rafiki node on the Interledger network. Our miPlata backend is fully integrated — wallet address provisioning, quote creation, and outgoing payment execution are all functional end-to-end. The Open Payments transfer flow has been designed and is ready for implementation in the mobile app. Remaining work includes peer connectivity, webhook handling for incoming payment events, and mobile UI buildout.
Community Engagement: We presented miPlata at the Interledger Community Call on April 8, 2026, including a live demo of the platform and integration progress. On the ground, we have opened a physical space in Monterrey, Mexico, begun direct outreach to US farms, and initiated partnerships with community centers for financial literacy programming.
Communications and Marketing
On the marketing and community side, we have several initiatives in the works. We are planning a series of informative videos to help workers and employers understand what miPlata can do for them in a practical, accessible way.
Beyond digital, we are taking a more direct approach. Visiting farms in the US to meet owners and workers in person and introducing miPlata where our users actually are. We also opened a physical space in Monterrey, Mexico, where workers can learn about the platform before they begin their journey to the United States.
Finally, we are partnering with community centers to participate in their financial literacy programs, which gives us the opportunity to reach communities through organizations they already know and trust.
What’s Next?
Peer Connectivity: With the core infrastructure live, the remaining work is to complete the integration and connect with peers on the network.
UI for Open Payments transfers: The payment flow is designed and defined. The next step is implementing it within the mobile app so it is available to users directly.
Webhook handler for payment event callbacks: This is needed to make the payment experience fully reactive, reliable and to properly handle incoming transfers.
Community Support
We continue to value the relationships we have built within the Interledger ecosystem. Most recently, we were featured in the Interledger Community Call on April 8, 2026, where we shared a deeper look at miPlata with the broader community, walking through the platform, the integration progress, and the problem we are solving. We also had the opportunity to do a successful demo of what we have built so far directly with the Interledger team, which was a meaningful moment for us. A big thank you to the Interledger technical team for their support and guidance throughout this process.
Going forward, we would love to connect with teams who have completed their own Rafiki integrations and are open to sharing what they learned, particularly around incoming payments and webhook infrastructure. We are also always interested in hearing from organizations working with immigrant and unbanked worker populations in the US, whether in agriculture, construction, hospitality, or similar sectors.
Relevant Links/Resources (optional)
Website: https://www.miplata.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@somos.miplata
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/miplata/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somos.miplata/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@miplatawallet
Interledger Community Call on April 8, 2026: Interledger Community Call: miPlata Demo and Presentation | 8 April 2026
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