Mastercard aims to deliver digital identity, access for 100M in Africa – Biometric Update

Mastercard is doubling down on spreading its Community Pass, a digital platform that holds a digital ID and wallet in a smart card and enables people in developing nations to access to government and humanitarian services.
The payment giant is partnering with the African Development Bank Group to deliver digital identity and access to online services to 100 million individuals and businesses across Africa over the next 10 years.
The African Development Bank Group has pledged to invest US$300 million into the initiative, named Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa. Mastercard, on the other hand, has promised to register 15 million users in Africa onto the Community Pass platform within five years.
The initiative will initially focus on supporting the agricultural sector in women. The first pilot program will launch in 2024 in Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria. The Alliance will work with local banks to provide digital identities and access to seeds and other resources. The program will then expand to Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana and the rest of the continent. The Alliance also plans to work with public and private partners to deliver services, including connectivity, work skills, employment and financial services.
“Across Africa, people are driving new growth and opportunity, and Mastercard wants to support their success,” says Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of last week’s U.S.-Africa Business Forum hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Community Pass was launched in 2020 as Mastercard’s social enterprise for digitizing underserved communities. The solution serves 3.5 million people but the company has ambitious plans to reach 30 million people by 2027, Tara Nathan, Mastercard executive vice president and Community Pass founder, said in an interview in October 2023.
In 2023, Community Pass received an ID2020 certification. This month, Mastercard was promoted from a Corporate Member to a Sustaining Member of the Board at the OpenID Foundation (OIDF), a global open standards body focused on identity.
Africa  |  biometrics  |  digital economy  |  digital identity  |  financial inclusion  |  Mastercard  |  Mastercard Community Pass
York Regional Police and Peel Regional Police have announced they are joining forces to contract and implement a facial recognition…
The use of facial recognition at sports stadiums and arenas represents a threat to people’s rights to privacy and to…
Digi Yatra Foundation CEO Suresh Khadakbhavi is on the PR trail, as India’s biometric app to facilitate quicker boarding prepares…
Aisles, a startup that uses AI and biometrics to simplify retail shopping, has announced the successful closing of its Series…
Idemia is at the center of an initiative to develop a deepfake detection toolkit for the government of France. A…
In a collective appeal, the Innovation Club of Latvia, Germany, Estonia, and Lithuania wants the European Commission (EC) to enhance…
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Continue Reading
Learn More
Copyright © 2024 Biometrics Research Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Web Design by Studio1337

source

About The Author

admin

See author's posts