World Bank pledges to close access gap to official ID, digital payments

The World Bank has pledged that it will continue to offer support through its Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative to ensure that the estimated 850 million invisible people around the world can possess a legal and digital identity. The institution has made a similar pledge to scale up access to seamless digital payments through the Government to Person Payments (G2PX) drive.

This ambition is highlighted in a World Bank ID4D and G2Px annual report for 2023 dubbed “Putting people at the center of DPI,” a publication that outlines progress in global efforts to make digital public infrastructure (DPI) the main toolbox empowering countries to facilitate access to critical public services for millions.

The report, released early this year, makes a detailed review of the World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) and Government to Person Payments (G2PX) initiatives around the world, noting the major strides covered so far and the journey that still lies ahead.

To close the identification gap, the World Bank says it will continue to use its different support mechanisms of “exploring low-tech solutions, sharing lessons learnt from registration campaigns in lower income countries, and partnering with local organizations to better anticipate risks and barriers of marginalized groups such as vulnerable women, persons with disabilities, low income and low literacy groups, refugees, stateless populations, and more.”

Inclusive DPI for service delivery

The report highlights the incredible role of DPI as a tool capable of putting people and service providers at the center of global digitization efforts, and emphasizes the values of inclusion, user-centricity, safety and empowerment on which the ID4D and G2PX initiatives rest.

It also presents coverage gaps in identification which are hindering the development of inclusive and effective DPI for service delivery through research and data collected by the ID4D Global Dataset, and recommends that collaborative action is needed to make things work better, going forward.

It’s worthy of note that the ID4D and G2PX initiatives are implemented differently but they find convergence under the World Bank’s DPI umbrella – a cause which is now largely animating the global digital transformation discourse.

Per the report, the ID4D support for ID ecosystems involves three focus areas: establishing digital for online transactions, improving service delivery by leveraging identity verification and authentication, and building universally acceptable foundational ID systems. It chronicles activities implemented under the three pillars that underline its ID4D and G2PX global interventions. These pillars are knowledge creation and sharing on the design and implementation of inclusive and trusted and digital ID systems; convening, which represents fostering global engagement and advocacy on DPI good practices, and action on providing technical and financial support to governments and regional organizations on World Bank operations.

Among other things, the Bank says it will prioritize work related to the data sharing component of DPI, scale up country-focused research strategy and capacity, prioritize guidance to partner countries on new ID-related technologies and innovation, and encourage user-driven solutions.

With regard to G2Px, the institution says it will make all necessary efforts to respond to the growing demands from countries and regions on implementing digital G2P payments by providing support for adaptiveness and resilience, building evidence, developing guidance and promoting peer-to-peer knowledge exchange.

ID4D, G2Px achievements, partners

In the report, the World Bank details developments related to its DPI support around the world in 2023. This included the scaling up of research and data collection in some countries; significant progress in the rollout and strengthening of digital ID and civil registration projects; approval of new World Bank identity or civil registration projects to the tune of more than $500 million, technical assistance for designing, piloting, and scaling digital G2P payments with individuals at the center, and technical assistance for G2Px projects to drive inclusion, among others.

The report recognizes the enormity of support which the ID4D and G2Px initiatives enjoy through the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) partnership network which includes partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK and French governments, Norad and the Omidyar Network.

The World Bank indicates that the ID4D initiative is on track to improve the lives of 550 million people in nearly 60 countries by 2025 since its launch, and it aims to enable people to access ID that empowers them through increased access to services and economic opportunities, and greater ability to exercise their rights.

G2Px, on the other hand, currently supports 35 countries in digitalizing G2P payments through an inclusion, efficiency, and empowerment-centered approach that can benefit the more than 120 million people already receiving G2P payments in these countries, and many more that will be included as new beneficiaries.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital inclusion  |  digital public infrastructure  |  financial inclusion  |  Identification for Development (ID4D)  |  legal identity  |  World Bank