Every day, billions of consumers use a virtual currency they most likely do not realize is a virtual currency: Prepaid Minutes, issued as a special purpose currency by over 300 carriers globally. The issue is that these prepaid minutes can only be used on their respective proprietary networks for either voice and/or data services (a “walled garden”). Consequently, the underbanked are limited in their access to liquid assets. Physical cash cannot easily be transferred over long distances and prepaid minutes are illiquid, i.e. lacking convertibility back into cash. The consumers stuck in this paradigm want inexpensive financial services, but traditional banks and legacy money transfer companies lack reach and affordability.