Proto named finalist in Accion's Trust by Design Fintech Challenge

Proto has been named a finalist in the Trust by Design Fintech Challenge, run by Accion to recognise fintech companies building genuine trust with women customers and demonstrating lasting business impact. Selected from over 200 applicants, Proto is one of three global finalists, recognised for excelling across all four of the challenge’s criteria.

Low-literacy and underserved consumers face the steepest barriers when something goes wrong: a scam, a denied claim, an unsettled transfer. Proto’s AI agent workflows automate grievance intake across voice, WhatsApp, SMS, web and other channels, routing complaints to financial institutions and regulators directly – without the cost and delay of paper forms and call centres.

Why it was selected

The Selection Committee singled out how Proto pairs resolution with visibility: consumers receive a tracking ID and status updates, while regulators receive sex-disaggregated analytics that support supervisory decision-making. In Rwanda, that visibility helped surface a shift in who comes forward with a complaint and how quickly it gets resolved, through Intumwa, Proto’s deployment with the National Bank of Rwanda.

Impact at a glance:

That shift shows up elsewhere too. In the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ BOB AI agent handles more than 14 million interactions a year across 776 financial institutions, resolving disputes – from delayed refunds to unauthorised charges – in days rather than months, without a branch visit or a paper complaint.

Curtis Matlock, CEO of Proto, said: “Proto’s deployments reflect growing momentum to embed an AI-powered Trust Layer into inclusive instant payment systems – giving regulators agentic capabilities that make gender-intentional consumer protection more accessible, connected, and effective. For financial institutions and investors, the opportunity is equally timely: proven shared-service and liability-waterfall models can sustainably protect trust and financial inclusion gains beyond 2030.”

What’s next

Proto is leading a pathfinder project for a sustainable financial inclusion Trust Layer – grievance redress, fraudulent fund recovery, and scalable instant payment systems – bringing together proprietary and open-core technologies to sustain trust in payments infrastructure beyond 2030 for over a billion consumers.

About Proto

Proto deploys inclusive AI workflows in emerging markets. The company is trusted by governments and enterprises to automate workflows for anti-scam centres, patient experience, and other mission-critical usecases. Proto's clients include central banks, remittance services, and hospitals protected with the company's SOC2, ISO27001, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance. Proto's text and voice AI datasets power high performance for local languages beyond the limits of large language models. Headquartered in Canada, Proto operates from regional offices in the Philippines and Rwanda.