Page 110 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

launched prior to 1995 all have financial linkages while 60 percent of programs introduced from 2011 to 2015
have financial linkages.

Figure 17 – Percentage of ID Programs with Financial Linkages by Time Period

Aside from the issues mentioned in section 6.1 with evaluating the association between ID program linkages
and year of program, another concern is that a number of these programs are multi-generational. Kenya’s
current ID program, for instance, was developed in 1964. A second generation of the program was launched
in 1995, and it eventually developed links to mobile money and digital banking. Rollout of a third generation
ID is currently underway.
Advanced electronic and biometric identification systems may allow developing countries to leapfrog the
traditional paper-based system and link national identity to multiple functional applications (World Bank, 2015).
Besides using fingerprints, PINs and/or signatures as a means of authentication for commercial transactions
and for access to financial and social services, more precise digital biometric technology has been used in
combination of mobile devices to create “mobile money” for secure and cashless commercial transactions and
social transfers (World Bank, 2014; Gelb & Clark, 2013). However, we find no association between program
technical features and the likelihood of financial linkages (Table 11). Among the 28 programs which are
embedded with electronic components, 18 are linked with financial services. Of the 36 biometric programs,
18 have financial linkages.

Table 11 – Digital and Biometric ID Programs Associated with Financial Connections

No Financial Connections / Not
Program Technical Features Financial Connections
Specified
Programs Embedded with Electronic Component (28 18 10
Programs)

Programs Involving Biometrics (36 Programs) 18 18

For four of the eight programs with digital banking, mobile money, or social cash transfer functions (Congo,
Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia), we observe that the funding model involves donor support and public-private
partnership. Another of these programs, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in Pakistan,
has a special funding model where a commercially viable business model is put into place to generate revenue

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