Globally, the use of biometric ID systems is growing rapidly. Our ongoing work at the Centre for Global Development surveyed about 160 cases across 70 developing countries. Some are multi-purpose national identity programmes (NIDs). In Peru, it is virtually impossible for citizens to engage in formal transactions without an ID number and card issued by RENIEC, a specialised agency. Others are "functional IDs", rolled out to serve specific purposes, such as managing public payrolls and pension systems, or cash transfer and health insurance programmes. Indian examples include the biometric ID card for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). In order to reduce fraud, biometric IDs are also increasingly issued by private companies and NGOs to identify clients or authenticate employees involved in individual transactions.
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As countries develop towards middle-income status and beyond and their economies become more sophisticated, they and their citizens need stronger formal ID. The poor need this most of all; it is no accident that the poorest and most excluded are also invariably those without recognised identification. Strong ID at the national level can head off a proliferation of multiple IDs, each for a different purpose, often less secure and of a lower quality, many requiring citizens to deal with multiple systems. Nigeria, for instance, has at least 12, most of them biometric.