Visa and Tech5 Partner to Promote Digital ID-Based Payments

Visa has teamed with biometrics firm TECH5 to help build “digital government ecosystems on a global scale.”

The partnership will involve the two companies working to “implement digital ID-based payment infrastructure and services on a national level,” Visa CEMEA Head of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions Shahebaz Khan said in a news release Monday (Dec. 18).

According to the release, the partnership will see the companies develop a blueprint for expanding card acceptance for government disbursements and payment programs across all platforms, as well as establishing financial literacy and digital inclusion programs.

The two firms say they are also working on a “roadmap for a SuperApp” and enabling Visa card credentials for citizens and non-residents via multiple digital channels.

Based in Switzerland, TECH5 offers biometric SDKs and software platforms for contactless biometric capture and matching, digital ID issuance and management.

“They can be readily deployed for integration with Visa payment services and other value-added components that underpin the implementation of digital public infrastructure and e-commerce marketplaces,” the release said.

The news comes six weeks after the European Union (EU) reached a final agreement on establishing a digital identity wallet for EU citizens that could be used for payments.

A final agreement still needs to be formally ratified by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. Once approved, the digital identity wallet would become available to citizens of EU member nations after two years.

“The strategic imperative of digital identity layers is the linchpin for unlocking unprecedented opportunities in personalization, financial inclusion, transaction security and global connectivity,” PYMNTS wrote at the time.

“That’s because, as users and enterprises increasingly engage with various future-fit financial services, the ability to seamlessly authenticate their identities allows for a more customized and user-centric approach that doesn’t sacrifice security for convenience.”

As that report noted, digital payments have grown faster and more sophisticated, but what hasn’t changed is the need for businesses to provide customers with secure payment methods.

Innovations such as digital wallets aim to form the foundational technology that will allow governments and businesses secure digital identities.

“We never really thought about what does it mean to identify a person on the internet in a way that is portable and doesn’t require you to rely on a single private platform,” Mike Brock, CEO of Block’s TBD, said in an interview with PYMNTS.