Authors:

  • Timothy Massad

Excerpt

April 4, 2023, Video: "Over the last two decades, India has built the world’s largest digital biometric identity and real-time payment systems. Its use of digital technology has enabled India to achieve financial inclusion for 85% of its population—when only 20% had access to formal banking a decade ago. The key building blocks are the Aadhar digital identity system, which has issued a biometric identification number to 1.3 billion people, or 99% of the population, and the Unified Payment Interface or UPI, an instant payment system that is used by citizens throughout the country, even for very small purchases. As the New York Times recently reported, “Billions of mobile app transactions — a volume dwarfing anything in the West — course each month through a homegrown digital network that has made business easier and brought large numbers of Indians into the formal economy.” Dr. Pramod Varma, chief architect of Aadhar and other elements of India’s “digital stack,” will speak about what India did and what other countries can learn from its innovations."