Three Nairobi-based Software Engineers are heading to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with their virtual checkout 'Lane Zero' solution which they developed using harmonised APIs.

Okal Otieno, Obat Okello and David Ngugi are from JUMO's local office in the Westlands region of Kenya. They were invited to the 2017 edition of Mobile World Congress following their win at the Mobile Money API Hackathon during the GSMA's Mobile 360 Africa Series which took place in Dar es Salaam last year.

Sam Kitonyi, Director of Engineering at JUMO has expressed gratitude for the opportunity given to the three to attend the largest gathering for the mobile industry. "On behalf of our team we're thankful for the win against tough competition," he said.

The three were challenged to test harmonised mobile money APIs and they produced a virtual checkout named 'Lane Zero'.

Harmonised APIs reduce complexity and fragmentation and are beneficial to all mobile money ecosystem players according to JUMO, which notes that over the past year, the GSMA has collaborated with key mobile network operators, platform vendors and third parties within the mobile money ecosystem to define harmonised mobile money APIs for the industry.

Judges for the hackathon included Tigo Tanzania's Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ruan Swanepoel, Kinu's CEO and Co-Founder, Jones Mrusha, and GSMA's Mobile Money Services Director, Gunnar Camner.

The team of judges assessed a range of solutions including agent apps, consumer apps, e-commerce solutions and merchant payment options. JUMO's physical merchant payment solution using QR codes was recognised for its user experience and functionality.

"Now we're counting down to Mobile World Congress which will give our team exposure to the industry-leading platform in mobile innovation globally." added Kitonyi.