Pakistan launches biometric app for remote registration, onboarding

Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority has launched an app to allow users to perform biometric verification on their smartphones, Dawn reports.

NADRA’s introduction of the PAK-ID mobile app for both Android and iOS is intended to facilitate applications for the country’s national ID card, and Authority Chairman Tariq Malik told Dawn it will accelerate Pakistan’s shift towards a digital identity lifecycle.

PAK-ID can be used to enroll fingerprint and face biometrics, as well as capturing documents for submission. It can be used by citizens and expatriates alike.

Malik also suggested the app’s introduction could improve financial inclusion with rapid onboarding and passwordless authentication, while easing business processes and e-governance initiatives.

Prime Minister Imran Khan commended the app’s launch as a step towards his vision of inclusivity and a digital Pakistan.

Pakistan has recently been clamping down on digital ID fraud and planning the integration of digital technology with its elections processes as part of that vision.

Customs system adds biometrics

The Pakistan Single Window (PSW) trade documentation system has been upgraded with a biometric verification capability, which was inaugurated by the Karachi Customs Agents Association (KCAA) this week, according to BOL News.

Customs agents and their importer and exporter clients can register to the PSW portal through biometric verification, as part of an effort to reduce the time, cost and complexity previously associated with customs processes. The PSW is expected to save the country up to $500 million in trade management and support the adoption of an integrated risk management approach to international trade controls among government agencies.

Wajid Ali, director general of Reforms and Automation for the WeBOC Project, said the implementation of PSW brings Pakistan into compliance with the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, and could help it become a trade hub.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  identity document  |  identity verification  |  mobile app  |  NADRA  |  national ID  |  onboarding  |  Pakistan