A woman has many roles in life, whether that’s the mother of a child who needs vaccinations; a small-holder farmer looking for the best price for crops; a local shopkeeper trying to grow their business; or a parent hoping to be able to pay school fees this term.
While she is one person, she appears unique to each of the providers with whom she interacts in her various roles. She has information about herself scattered in so many places she can’t begin to understand how it is being managed or protected, if at all. On top of that, it costs time and money having to identify herself over and over again.
Mastercard, a global technology company, hopes to create a connected digital ecosystem where an individual can be recognised as the same person in all these different scenarios, and can be provided with the services she and her family need in a holistic and consistent manner.
Having one simple and safe way to identify herself will improve access to services, for example at a health clinic. This is especially critical for people who do not have national identification documents, as having a simple digital tool to access and manage essential life services puts these individuals on a pathway to financial independence.
Mastercard’s functional digital identity solution is part of the company’s commitment to advancing inclusive economic growth – and was introduced at the annual meeting of the ID4Africa community in Johannesburg earlier this year.
“It is different to a foundational identity card issued by a government. It is a digital tool that can be set up in minutes and helps prove that the same person is dealing with service provider 1 and service provider 2,” says Antonia Stroeh, senior VP of Humanitarian and Development at Mastercard.
To set it up, the first service provider a person interacts with (e.g. a school) will take their biometrics – whether a picture of their face or their fingerprints – and then using Mastercard digital identity software on a basic tablet, the vendor will create a unique “hash” of the person’s biometric data. Think of the hash as a token that does not contain any sensitive information about that person.
When the person goes to the second service provider (e.g. a local entity providing farming subsidies), they present their digital card. If the two hashes match, the provider knows they are dealing with the same person. It is important to note that the person authorizes the service they want to participate in.
The Mastercard digital identity solution has been designed to facilitate many interactions and to ensure that access to essential services becomes faster and easier.
Stroeh says the company has already developed products and use cases across Africa that could leverage Mastercard’s functional digital identity solution. Mastercard has endorsed the World Bank’s Identity for Development principles and follows strict privacy principles in its product development.
These solutions include:
Micro-commerce
Mastercard Community Commerce aims to digitise low-value transactions in marginalised communities, such as shopkeepers of small spaza shops. Community Commerce works by giving the shopkeeper an NFC-enabled card terminal that can work offline, and the consumer an NFC-based, contactless card.
The card is not linked to a bank account, but it does hold value – for example, shopkeepers often do not have exact change, so some give sweets to make up the difference. Using Community Commerce, the shopkeeper will instead give the customer a card with the change loaded on it that the customer can use next time. This also allows the shopkeeper to have visibility of any informal accounts they may have with customers and gives them information that they can eventually use to apply for a loan with a bank.
Agriculture
The Mastercard Farmer Network (MFN), developed by Mastercard’s Lab for Financial Inclusion in Kenya, is currently available in East Africa and India, with more than 250 000 farmers already on the platform. The platform digitises marketplaces, making it easier for farmers to sell their produce at a fair price.
Education
Kupaa, which means “to fly high” in Swahili, is a digital payment and management tool for schools that was also developed by the Mastercard Lab for Financial Inclusion. In Uganda, where the tool has already reached more than 270,000 students across 500 schools, many parents have sporadic and unpredictable incomes and used to endure long trips to pay school fees.
Kupaa helps parents pay their children’s schooling digitally, using basic tablets or feature phones. It also allows schools to document student attendance and communicate directly with parents about how much they have paid or need to pay.
Stroeh says Africa is an exciting region for Mastercard as it is seeing many innovative corporates and start-ups blossoming on the continent.
“We're seeing a lot of leapfrogging technology, which drives a vibrant innovation ecosystem. Many of the great solutions that we are co-creating with partners in this region also find applications in other markets.
“Africa tends to bring novel approaches to pretty fundamental problems. It is a great place to co-develop new technology solutions,” she says.
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