Page 105 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

In law enforcement, national IDs are assisting governments to track criminal activity. In Maharashtra, India
it is now required by law that police include the Aadhaar unique identification number of witnesses and
criminals in reports on crimes (Gelb & Raghavan, 2014). Tanzania’s new ID system is intended to support better
coordination across police, immigration authorities, the country’s revenue service, and other government
agencies by allowing them “to share information and differentiate between Tanzanians, foreign nationals and
refugees” (Makoye, 2013).

Instances of national IDs that double as passports are largely the result of a single agreement between East
African Community (EAC) member states to allow international travel between member states. We find that
citizens of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda can all travel between the five-member EAC using only their respective
national IDs.
Finally, as governments seek to cut down on the ability of extremists and criminals to use cell phones to conduct
illicit activities like money laundering, some have turned to using identity cards for mobile phone and SIM
registrations (Okuttah, 2015). In Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, and Peru IDs are now required in order
to buy a cell phone or swap SIM cards. These requirements are also related to identification and authentication
efforts for digital banking and mobile money, as discussed previously.

5.6 Other Functions

Figure 14 – Other Functional Linkages of ID Programs

In addition to the categories of functions already discussed, we find evidence of linkages of ID programs with
four other categories of services (Figure 14):

• KYC – Government services – The ID is used as a verification document for individuals to receive access
to government civil services (Passport applications, driver registration, etc.).

• Student or civil service employee attendance tracking – Identity systems are leveraged to ensure that
government employees and students attend work or school.

• Taxes – The unique ID number issued is linked to the issuance of tax identification numbers or the
payment of taxes.

• Travel – The ID is used as a document that permits domestic travel (i.e. railway or bus travel).
In keeping with the theme of utilizing ID programs to reduce fraud, streamline administration, and prevent
fund leakage, countries have developed applications to track the attendance of civil servants. Both Ghana and

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