"Ghana Card to go digital next year"

" Ghana Card to go digital next year \r\n\r\nCEO of Margins ID Group, Moses K. Baiden has revealed that by next year Ghana will launch a digital version of the universal national ID, the Ghana Card to complement the physical one.\r\n\r\nHe disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Techfocus24.\r\n\r\nAccording to him, just like the e-passport profile on the Ghana Card, the electronic ID profile is also on the card already and it will be activated next year.\r\n\r\nMoses Baiden said when the time comes, all the information on the Ghana Card\u2019s chip will be written on to the chip\/SIM card in the owners mobile phone via an App, then a digital replica of the Ghana Card will be generated on the phone with a bar\/QR code, which can be read digitally for various purposes.\r\n\r\n\u201cBecause the Ghana Card uses a chip and all your details can be written on it, they can also be written on the chip on your phone so that where the physical Ghana Card is not available your phone chip can be used to verify your identity with a nfc (near field communication) device also designed and developed by Margins.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe will also have a digital ID Card which looks just like your original Ghana Card, with your picture, card number, date of birth and everything else, plus a bar\/QR code, which can be scanned from your phone screen for all purposes,\u201d he stated.\r\n\r\nIndeed, Kenya recently announced it is embarking on a project to provide citizens with\u00a0digital ID cards, but no physical ID cards. Moses Baiden, however, thinks that is not a good idea, particularly for a developing country where such a system does not cover all use cases and therefore limits its benefits to citizens.\r\n\r\nHe explained that that whereas, the digital version of the Ghana Card is just like the actual Ghana Card and equally efficient, when the holder\u2019s phone dies, the digital version cannot be accessed for verifications. Again, the physical card is necessary because not everyone has a phone and the infrastructure to read the digital ID are also not available everywhere yet.\r\n\r\n\u201cBecause mobile phone penetration is significant, the digital ID can be a good addition to the physical Ghana Card but we are not yet at the stage where we can discard the physical card and go completely digital,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nBut he insisted that for convenience, it is important to have both, so that in case one forgets to pick his physical ID card or loses it, the digital one can be used for all purposes.\r\n\r\n Ghana Card for payments\u00a0 \r\n\r\nMoses Baiden said in spite of the several sarcastic jokes that have been made about the Ghana Card being used for payments, there is actually a\u00a0 payment \u00a0 application on the Ghana Card , which can be used for financial transactions when activated.\r\n\r\nHe explained that there are 18 segments on the Ghana Card, including the debit application, saying that \u201call we need is the legislation and the funds to activate all of them so Ghanaians can see, experience and fully benefit from the power of the Ghana Card.\u201d\r\n\r\nAccording to him, activating all 18 segments is expensive and by law, Margins is supposed to pre-finance everything and prove it works before they will be paid by government, so it will take time for all to be activated.\r\n\r\n Pre-Financing by Margins \r\n\r\nSpeaking of pre-financing, Moses Baiden said previously when the law made it the responsibility of a state institution to design and develop the national ID, it took hundreds of millions of dollars over a 12-year period to issue only 900,000 cards, which were not issued instantly and did not even have all the features of the current Ghana Card.\r\n\r\nDuring that period, the ID system designer was even a French multinational with Margins only working as a sub-contractor providing and printing cards. That raised issues of sovereignty and national security as a foreign entity was in charge of the country\u2019s ID system.\r\n\r\n\u201cSo, Margins came up with the idea that if you claim you can design and deliver an effective national ID system and cards, why don\u2019t you the contractor find your own money and do it, when it becomes successful you get paid. There was no point in paying contractors hundreds of millions of dollars to deliver an ID system that does not work,\u201d he stated.\r\n\r\nMargins, he said, has always had the experience and the infrastructure to design and develop reliable ID systems and infrastructure with international standards for years, the first of its kind in West Africa, to be built and owned by Africans.\r\n\r\n Instant cards\u00a0 \r\n\r\nOnce the green light was given, Margins started by piloting with foreigners ID cards, with a system designed to issue cards instantly at least 85% of the time, unlike the previous one, where applicants were issued with cheats and were asked to come weeks later for their cards; many of which were not even issued with the cards at all.\r\n\r\nOver the past 15 years, Margins has been pre-financing everything about the Ghana Card and only get\u2019s paid after work is done, and the company has solved the country\u2019s 50-year-old problem by providing a reliable universal national ID card that promises to revolutionalize national development, particularly in the area of social, political and financial inclusion.\r\n\r\nNow, with the investment and ingenuity of Margins Group, a completely locally-owned company, the National Identification Authority (NIA) is able to issue Ghana Cards to applicants 15 years and above instantly and for free. This far, over 85% of Ghanaians have been issued with valid Ghana Cards.\r\n\r\n US$1.5 billion leakage eliminated\u00a0 \r\n\r\nMoses Baiden said by developing the Ghana Card, Margins has saved the state over US$1.5 billion, which was what over 20 state institutions spent collecting data from individuals who accessed services from them over the 15-year period without the Ghana Card.\r\n\r\n\u201cNow that the Ghana Card is here, state institutions do not have to use manual and expensive means of collecting individual data any longer \u2013 people can even go online and apply for services, authorize access to their details and the service will be delivered once the details are verified without the applicant having to physically visit the offices of that state institution,\u201d he said. \u201cSSNIT is doing it, some banks are also doing it and several other institutions are doing it.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe however noted that there are a few human behaviour hurdles to cross, where certain individuals and even some institutions still require a physical appearance before services are delivered, adding that it will take time but soon all that will go away.\r\n\r\n Online\/Offline Card Readers \r\n\r\nBeyond developing the card, Margins has also developed NFC card readers that enable the ID details to be verified for all use cases even in situations where there is no internet and or electricity.\r\n\r\nThe card readers, which come in both tabletop and handheld versions, can read all profiles on the Ghana Card and can also do biometric checks, both online or offline. They have a unique National PKI to be able to ID even terrorists and other antisocial characters.\r\n\r\nMoses Baiden said policies and laws exist only to facilitate development for the people, but it takes a reliable ID system to know who the people are and what exactly their needs are so that development planning will be more precise and effective.\r\n\r\nHe said an efficient ID system is also critical to people knowing and accessing their rights and privileges as well as fulfilling their duties and responsibilities to the state.\r\n\r\nThe Margins Group CEO believes the Ghana Card holds the master key to ensuring the kind of precision needed in Ghana\u2019s development to ensure that no citizen or resident, whatever their status, is left behind."

"Ghana Card to go digital next year"

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