TECH5, Visa Team Up on Digital Infrastructure

TECH5 has partnered with Visa on a wide-ranging effort to develop “digital government ecosystems” across multiple countries.

The effort will encompass a number of programs, including the development of a go-to-market roadmap for a “SuperApp” that will deliver Visa card credentials to individuals; work on preparing regulatory language for digital payments development; and the development of digital identity management solutions, among others.

TECH5 is already a well-established vendor in this kind of digital infrastructure; for example, it has worked with the Ethiopian government on a digital ID project, and it provided key technology for a remote voting system in Oman. The company also recently secured a Certificate of Conformity with the United Kingdom Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF), effectively certifying that its T5-AirSnap solutions, which offer contactless face and fingerprint capture, can be used by the country’s officially designated Identity Service Providers (IDSPs).

The company’s expertise has its foundation in a technology platform that encompasses not only biometric identity assurance tools but also a unique digital credential solution, “T5-Cryptograph”, unveiled earlier this year.

The company’s technological proficiency evidently made it an appealing partner to Visa, whose SVP and Head of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions, Shahebaz Khan, expressed excitement about their “strategic collaboration”.

“Our joint efforts will concentrate on enhancing digital government ecosystems worldwide, with a special focus on advancing digital payments and digital identity management services,” Khan explained. “We are committed to digital and financial inclusion, and we believe that this partnership will allow to implement digital ID-based payment infrastructure and services on a national level, thereby unlocking significant market potential.”

It is a propitious time for such efforts, with governments around the world turning to the advantages of digital payments, digital identity, and related technologies to foster innovation, growth, and inclusivity. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), for example, recently announced that it was looking for a partner to develop a roadmap for an ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC); and last month the United Nations Development Program launched a digital public infrastructure program backed by the Gates Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank, among others. Meanwhile, various players in the European Union are working toward a planned EU Digital Identity wallet.

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December 18, 2023 – by Alex Perala