Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)’s Post

At the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), we have been exploring the need for safeguards while building Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for inclusive finance. DPI is often not considered when thinking of consumer protection and the delivery of responsible financial services. However, the design of these important rails can determine end user experience and must be examined closely and within each country context to understand the types of safeguards needed to protect end users' rights and enshrine their trust. Our latest brief considers the case of #Kenya and its rollout of a new #digitalID, the Maisha Namba. While some view this initiative as a significant step in the country’s broader #DPI journey, others express strong skepticism and frustration from poor past experiences with digital ID failures and concerns about exclusion, misuse, and ineffective investments. Julie Zollmann, Nanjira Sambuli and Catherine Wanjala explore the experiences and opinions of 53 Kenyan citizens, multiple civil society organizations, and private sector firms, to understand what conditions, contexts, and practices must exist for DPI to produce beneficial outcomes for citizens. Monica Greco, Laura Bingham, Carole House, Mihir Kshirsagar, Akash Kapur, Kriti Kapila, Heba Shams, Ravi Shankar Chaturvedi, Kay McGowan, David Porteous, Ahmed Dermish, Sucharita Mukherjee, Camilo Téllez, Nontobeko P L., Anand R. Deon Woods Bell Kim Wilson Subhashini (Shuba) Chandran Payal Dalal Alexandra Rizzi Rebecca Rouse Siobhan Green Read it here: