Visa and TECH5 Partner on Seven-Year Deal for Digital Public Infrastructure

Visa and TECH5 have entered a seven-year strategic collaboration, formalized in Dubai, to support the development and deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) around the world. The companies plan to integrate Visa’s digital payment capabilities with TECH5’s biometric and identity management technologies in order to help governments and institutions build secure and interoperable digital ecosystems.

Scope of the Collaboration

According to the announcement, Visa will provide payments expertise, business development support, and joint funding for select projects, while TECH5 will contribute identity, biometric, and trust infrastructure. A key workstream is the exploration of identity wallets with embedded payment features. The goal is to enable people to hold verified digital credentials that can be used to authenticate to public and private services and then transact using Visa-enabled payment rails, where permitted by local regulation.

The partners say solutions will be designed to adapt to regulatory and market conditions in different jurisdictions. That includes alignment with emerging standards for digital credentials and wallet interoperability, as well as safeguards for data protection and user consent. TECH5’s portfolio covers face, fingerprint, and iris modalities, and the company notes strong results in independent evaluations. Visa brings its global network and experience working with governments on programs such as disbursements, acceptance expansion, and digital inclusion.

Context and Early Use Cases

The agreement arrives amid growing momentum for national and regional digital identity programs. Recent initiatives include Ethiopia’s Fayda digital ID system, where TECH5 and Visa have previously collaborated on wallet and credential issuance use cases, and South Africa’s multi-agency digital ID platform. While the new partnership is global in scope, deployment timelines and participating countries were not detailed. The companies state that pilots and implementations will be shaped by government requirements, local partners, and regulatory readiness.

“Our collaboration with Visa represents a significant step in broadening the reach and applicability of TECH5’s DPI technologies,” said Machiel van der Harst, Co-founder and CEO of TECH5. “By combining our identity and biometric expertise with Visa’s global payment network and resources, we are positioned to address the evolving needs of governments and institutions seeking secure and inclusive digital infrastructure.” Dr. Svyatoslav Senyuta, Vice President and Head of Visa Government Solutions in the CEMEA region, said the partnership reflects Visa’s view that secure, inclusive, and scalable digital identity is foundational to the future of payments.

Industry observers note that integrating verified identity with payments can reduce onboarding friction, improve inclusion, and strengthen fraud controls, but they also stress the importance of transparency, clear governance, and privacy protections. The companies indicate that their joint efforts will align with standards work on web credential protocols and with evolving wallet frameworks to support portability and trust.

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By Cass Kennedy