From Identity to Inclusion: How Paycode Enables Global Progress in Identification
- Paycode
- Nov 14
- 5 min read
The world is becoming increasingly defined by data and digital systems, but one fact remains stubbornly true: if you cannot prove who you are, you cannot fully participate. Identification is more than an administrative formality - it is a passport to rights, opportunity and inclusion.
The World Bank’s latest findings from the Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative, published in its blog Global Progress in Identification, reveal both encouraging progress and enduring inequities. More people now possess official ID than ever before, but hundreds of millions are still left out, and even among the registered, digital access and usage remain uneven.
At Paycode, we view these numbers not as statistics but as a call to action - an invitation to design identity and payment systems that work for the people who need them most, even offline, and in the most fragile contexts.
800 million people still lack official ID and millions more cannot use theirs digitally
The ID4D data shows that global ID coverage is improving, with the number of people without any form of official identification falling from over a billion in 2017 to around 800 million today.This is real progress, yet it still leaves one in ten people worldwide unable to open a bank account, access social protection, or register a SIM card.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, coverage averages around 80 %, but in many countries it remains far lower. For example, in several fragile and conflict-affected states, fewer than two-thirds of adults have a foundational ID. The implications are immediate: exclusion from digital connectivity, government payments, and economic participation.
For Paycode, this underscores the importance of bridging foundational identity with functional financial access. Our technology is designed precisely for this gap using biometrics, offline authentication, and integrated KYC to enable people to transact even when national ID databases are inaccessible or connectivity fails.
Digital identity adoption is lagging: 2.9 billion people still excluded
Beyond foundational ID, the next frontier is digital identity - the ability to prove and use your identity online. Yet according to the World Bank, 2.9 billion adults still lack access to a digital ID, and in countries where digital systems exist, only a fraction of citizens actually use them. Globally, just 23 % of adults have used a digital ID, and ownership varies wildly - from 5 % in Bolivia to over 80 % in Turkey.
This “usage gap” highlights a hard truth: digital systems fail if they don’t deliver real-world value. People adopt technology when it helps them get paid, receive aid or access healthcare.
In Thailand, for example, linking digital IDs to e-wallets allowed informal workers to receive emergency COVID-19 payments directly into their accounts. That’s the kind of linkage between identity, payments, and service delivery that drives inclusion and it’s exactly what Paycode enables in markets like Sudan, Ghana, and Afghanistan.
By combining biometric identity with offline transaction processing and instant settlement through partner banks, Paycode’s platform turns an ID into an active tool of empowerment, one that can function without internet or electricity, in the remotest regions of the world.
Women remain at the margins of the digital identity revolution
Perhaps the most sobering insight from the ID4D data is that gender gaps persist across every layer of identity systems. Men are more likely than women to possess official IDs in at least a dozen developing countries, and in many cases, the gap is 10 to 20 percentage points. For digital IDs, the divide widens further: in 16 developing economies, women are significantly less likely than men to use a digital ID for online services or payments.
These gaps are compounded by other inequities (rural residency, lower education, poverty) that often overlap and reinforce each other. As a result, the people most in need of access remain the hardest to reach.
This is where Paycode’s approach is transformative. Our biometric identity and offline transaction technology was designed from day one to serve women at the last mile - those without smartphones, literacy, or connectivity. By verifying identity through a fingerprint rather than a password, and by settling transactions locally through partner banks, we eliminate the barriers that typically exclude women from digital finance.
We are now working with banks and regulators to turn biometric transaction histories into alternative credit scores, opening the door to savings, credit and micro-insurance products tailored for women. This is what inclusion looks like in practice: identity that enables financial opportunity.
From coverage to capability: the next phase of digital identity
The World Bank’s analysis delivers a clear message: issuing IDs is not enough. A person’s identity only gains value when it connects them to services, systems, and livelihoods. That means the focus must shift from coverage to capability - from “how many people have an ID” to “how many can use it to get paid, save, or receive aid.”
For governments, donors, and development partners, that shift requires a new mindset:
Interoperability: IDs must be recognised across agencies and borders. In humanitarian settings, refugees and displaced persons are too often re-registered multiple times by different organisations - a duplication that drains resources and forces people to relive trauma.At the Humanitarian Payments Council in Berlin, Paycode presented a self-sovereign identity system that works offline, developed alongside our partners at Algorand. This model allows individuals to maintain a single, portable, and verifiable identity record even in areas without internet access.
Inclusion by design: Gender, geography, and socioeconomic status must be tracked as performance metrics, not afterthoughts.
Offline resilience: Systems must function during outages, disasters, or connectivity failures. When digital ID and payment systems rely entirely on the cloud, a power cut or cyberattack can shut down entire economies. Paycode’s offline rails ensure that life-critical transactions, such as social grants or aid payments, continue uninterrupted.
Trust and governance: Identity is personal. Strong data protection, ethical consent, and transparent governance frameworks are non-negotiable.
Why digital ID is the foundation of inclusive digital finance
When people can prove who they are - securely, privately, and in a way that is recognised by financial institutions - everything else follows.Identity enables account opening, access to government services, cross-border payments, and private-sector innovation. It also underpins resilience, allowing people to rebuild their lives after displacement or disaster.
The World Bank estimates that moving toward digital identity systems could save governments billions annually through reduced fraud, improved targeting, and streamlined service delivery. But the true impact is human: giving every person a secure, recognised, and usable identity means enabling participation in the global economy.
"Paycode’s mission is to make that participation possible for everyone, everywhere whether online or offline, urban or rural, connected or remote."
Identity as a bridge, not a barrier
The world has made real progress, but the work is far from done. Eight hundred million people still lack an official ID, and nearly three billion cannot use a digital one. Bridging that divide is the next great inclusion challenge and it will not be solved by technology alone. It requires partnerships, policy reform and systems that are designed around human realities, not infrastructure assumptions.
At Paycode, we believe identity should be a bridge to inclusion, not a barrier. By linking self-sovereign identity, offline biometrics, and interoperable payment rails, we are helping governments, banks and humanitarian agencies bring financial access to the last mile and ensuring that every person, everywhere, can prove who they are and take part in the economy.
