Virtual IDs to save Kenyans from fraud

Conducting a digital conference in Nairobi this week. The government is seeking to curb fraud in the payment systems. BUSINESS DAILY PHOTO. 

By DAVID MUGWE
 

 

In Summary

Preparing the ground. The Kenyan government has put infrastructure in place so as to support the project .

Kenyans will soon acquire unique virtual identities for e-commerce to curb fraud in payments and reduce cash transactions. Information permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo said during the opening of this year’s annual AITEC Banking and Mobile Money Comesa conference on Wednesday that the government was putting in place infrastructure for the project.

“We have been working hard to develop public infrastructure for virtual identities unique to every individual in this country. We are close and soon we are going to start issuing them,” he said adding that most of the infrastructure was in place.”

Dr Ndemo said this was one of the reasons the government had been licensing fourth generation (4G) or LTE networks —which use wireless technology—allowing for larger capacities of data and high-end services at faster speeds.

He said the move will help to develop an economy that uses less cash— which is cheaper for financial institutions as they are able to cut logistical costs.

Cheaper costs of doing business for financial institutions are expected to trickle down to consumers, helping commercial banks expand their services to unbanked consumers.