UNDP highlights how digital wallets, QR codes are strengthening human security

Digital public infrastructure is showing its merits on the ground. DPI may have begun as abstract policy but countries across the world are demonstrating what the benefits look like.

Governments are rethinking how people prove who they are, access services and receive support. A wave of experimentation stretches from Africa to Latin America to Southeast Asia, with each case offering a different window into the usefulness of digital tools.

The examples below — from UNDP’s global convening on digital wallets, Indonesia’s rapid fintech expansion and Honduras’s overhaul of cash‑transfer verification — illustrate how quickly the landscape is changing.

For more inclusive, flexible digital IDs, MOSIP’s QR Code specification for digital identity interactions is enabling an increasing number of practical uses. Known as Claim 169, the visible digital seal has gained prominence for potential benefits like easy and low-cost issuance and offline functionality.

Exploring digital wallets in Malawi and Argentina

Digital identity systems and interoperable digital wallets can greatly widen access to public and private services when they are recognized across institutions and borders, according to speakers at UNDP’s latest Digital X 3.0 knowledge‑exchange webinar.

The event, held in partnership with the Government of Japan, focused on how digital public goods can reinforce human security and support long‑term development. Officials and experts said digital wallets are emerging as a core component of national digital public infrastructure.

Case studies from Malawi and Argentina gave insight into how inclusive design and open standards can result in real‑world gains, enabling more seamless access to services while reducing fraud and administrative burdens.

Speakers included Daniel Goldscheider, founder and executive director at the OpenWallet Foundation; Daniel Abadie, head of technology and partnerships, Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI); and Tuntufye Laura Ntaukira, digital governance analyst at Inclusive Digital Transformation for Malawi (IDT4M), UNDP.

Malawi’s digital ID system reaches near‑universal coverage

Malawi’s national digital ID system now covers 13 million people, a rapid expansion that has helped the country address longstanding governance challenges. Before the launch of the National Registration and Identification System (NRIS), the absence of a unified identity framework contributed to widespread fraud.

This meant ghost workers and duplicate pensions that cost the government an estimated US$20 million annually. With 80 percent of citizens living in rural areas and lacking access to registration services, many struggled to claim benefits.

The new system was built with multiple credential formats to account for differences in connectivity and device access. A secure digital ID wallet is being rolled out among smartphone users in urban areas, while offline options such as QR codes printed on paper ensure rural residents are not excluded.

This inclusive approach has already delivered results. In agriculture, QR‑based credentials enabled a subsidy programme that reached roughly 1.2 million farmers, improving both food and economic security by allowing beneficiaries to verify eligibility even in low‑connectivity environments.

Argentina expands digital credentials using open standards

Argentina has also advanced its digital infrastructure, launching a mobile driver’s licence (mDL) that uses QR codes and open‑source, open‑standard systems. The service saw around 200,000 registrations on its first day, signaling strong public demand for accessible digital services.

The same infrastructure has since been extended to freight documentation, health and vaccine certificates, which proved critical during the Covid‑19 pandemic. By making credentials more portable and easier to verify, Argentina reduced friction across multiple services and improved access for citizens, the UNDP webinar said.

Safeguards and governance remain essential, responsibly scaling AI

Speakers stressed that technology alone cannot resolve fragmentation. The long‑term impact of digital wallets depends on how they are designed, governed and integrated. Systems must accommodate varying levels of connectivity, device access and digital literacy.

Embedding safeguards such as consent, purpose limitation, accountability and security was identified as essential to maintaining trust. Open‑source components and shared standards, including digital public goods, are key to making systems safer, more affordable and interoperable.

As artificial intelligence and digital services reshape public systems, digital wallets are becoming central to how people access government programs. Participants said data‑protection and privacy frameworks must evolve alongside these technologies to ensure responsible scaling.

UNDP’s Digital X platform, which helps countries identify and deploy digital solutions across borders, is working with partners including the Digital Public Goods Alliance to support this transition. As nations move from paper‑based credentials to digital systems, UNDP said the opportunity extends beyond administrative modernization to expanding inclusion, strengthening human security and protecting individual dignity.

Indonesia’s digital finance push expands access, but trust and safeguards now take center stage

Indonesia’s drive to expand financial inclusion has accelerated sharply over the past decade, helped by national policy, rapid digital adoption and the rollout of interoperable payment infrastructure.

The country set a major target in 2016: 90 percent access to formal financial services by 2024. Digital tools have been central to closing the gap. More than 220 million Indonesians are now online, giving the country one of the world’s largest digital user bases. This enables financial services to scale nationally at speed.

Bank Indonesia’s Payment System Blueprint has been an important enabler, with the QRIS universal QR code system allowing merchants of all sizes to accept cashless payments through a single standard.

Private‑sector platforms are now pushing inclusion beyond basic access. Fintech firm DANA, used by more than 200 million people, has helped broaden the country’s investment base by issuing investor IDs to over four million first‑time investors. Indonesia’s case is explored in a post published by the World Economic Forum.

Participation is also becoming more geographically and demographically diverse: 40 percent of DANA’s mutual fund investors are outside Java, and more than half are aged 17–25. Users are also buying micro‑insurance products through the platform, some costing as little as Rp400 ($0.02).

But the rapid expansion of digital finance has brought new risks. Fraud and scams are estimated to cost Indonesia around 0.2 percent of GDP, prompting Bank Indonesia to strengthen consumer protection and system resilience. Industry leaders say trust, governance and responsible data use must now evolve as quickly as the technology itself.

Environmental accountability is also emerging as a priority. DANA reports that each transaction on its platform emits around 0.14 grams of CO₂ equivalent, part of a broader push to measure and reduce the environmental footprint of digital finance.

As ASEAN advances work on a regional Digital Economy Framework Agreement, Indonesia’s experience with interoperable, trusted payment systems positions it to shape cross‑border standards. Policymakers and industry leaders argue that the next phase of fintech growth will depend less on launching new features and more on building systems that are safe, inclusive and sustainable.

Honduras overhauls cash‑transfer verification with biometric system to fix ‘last‑mile’ accountability gap

Honduras has introduced a new biometric verification system for its conditional cash transfer programmes. It tackles a long‑standing “last‑mile” problem that impacts social protection schemes across the Global South. The Central American country also has a decentralized privacy-preserving digital ID system using Tech5’s DPI technology suite.

While governments have become increasingly sophisticated at identifying eligible households, confirming that cash actually reaches the right person at the right time remains a major weakness. The problem is especially pronounced in cash‑based systems serving unbanked populations.

The issue became acute during the Covid‑19 pandemic, when Honduras expanded social assistance amid economic shocks and hurricane damage. A post on the London School of Economics’ International Development blog examines Honduras’ example. In 2022, the government consolidated programmes under the Red Solidaria framework and used it to redesign cash delivery.

Working through state bank BANADESA, Honduras deployed mobile payment units equipped with face biometrics and fingerprint scanners linked to the national civil registry. Beneficiaries are verified on site; if identity cannot be confirmed, the payment does not proceed.

Once verified, recipients receive a QR code that activates the transaction. A photograph of the beneficiary holding the code and receipt provides immediate, auditable proof of delivery. The system works in low‑connectivity areas and does not require bank accounts.

The reform addresses a structural accountability gap. Governments borrow to fund CCTs, but the institutions distributing cash at the last mile bear none of the financial risk if verification fails. Research has shown that embedding verification into payment systems reduces leakage, but most evidence has focused on digital or account‑based transfers. Honduras offers a rare example of applying this logic to a cash‑based, unbanked context.

Officials say the system could also lay groundwork for future financial inclusion, by linking verified identity with transaction records. Honduras is building the kind of documented history that helped countries like Colombia later expand access to simplified bank accounts and digital financial services, without making formal banking a prerequisite for receiving support.

With many countries still reliant on cash due to limited banking infrastructure and connectivity, Honduras’s model shows how accountability can be strengthened even when digital payments are not yet feasible.

The long‑term costs, benefits and inclusion impacts will need evaluation, but development finance institutions and policymakers are being urged to pay closer attention. When cash is the only option, redesigning the moment of delivery may be the most important innovation available.

Article Topics

Argentina  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital public infrastructure  |  digital wallets  |  financial inclusion  |  Honduras  |  Indonesia  |  Malawi  |  QR code  |  UNDP