Malawi and Argentina: Overcoming barriers to accessing critical services  

In many countries, people still tend to carry around printouts of essential documents and stand in queues for hours to confirm information that oftentimes already exists digitally. 

• Imagine a farmer in Malawi having to repeatedly submit physical documentation to show proof of land ownership to pay land taxes, because the national identity, agricultural, and financial systems in his country are not integrated. 
• Imagine a pregnant woman in Argentina trying to access maternal health services in a local clinic, but she is unable to provide a physical identification card that matches the name on her insurance card during an emergency visit.  

These examples represent real-life barriers across communities, where delays in the speed of digitization compounded by the lack of interoperability across digital systems typically limit access to critical services, which impact human security both individually and at population scale. But some countries are already steadily adopting digital wallets as part of their holistic digital public infrastructure approach to overcome many of these barriers. Across various use cases, several tangible opportunities for long-term development growth have been unlocked, as well as learnings on the importance of safeguards, standards, interoperability, and inclusive governance. In this context, stories from Malawi and Argentina are already illustrating what safe, inclusive and interoperable digital wallets in action look like. 

Malawi’s national digital ID system has reached 13 million people, achieving near universal coverage of its population within a short period. Recognizing differences in connectivity and device access, the system was designed with multiple credential formats. Today, a secure digital ID wallet is being socialized in urban areas among smartphone users, notably complemented with offline options, such as QR codes printed on paper, to ensure people in rural areas without smartphones are not excluded.  

But before the launch of the National Registration and Identification System (NRIS), Malawi faced significant challenges. The absence of a national identity system contributed to fraud, including ghost workers and duplicate pensions, costing the government about US$20 million annually. With 80 percent of citizens in rural areas lacking registration access, claiming benefits was challenging. Fragmented data systems, misuse of no-cost health care by people ineligible, and ineffective targeting within social protection programmes brought to the fore the need for a unified legal identity system. 

For Malawi, inclusive design of the digital wallet infrastructure has yielded positive outcomes. In the agricultural sector, QR code-based credentials enabled a subsidy programme that reached an estimated 1.2 million farmers. By linking identity infrastructure to agricultural support, the system strengthens both food security and economic security. Farmers can verify their eligibility and access benefits more efficiently, even in areas with limited connectivity.   

Argentina has also made progress in this regard, having introduced a digital driver’s license with a QR code that uses open-source and open standard-based systems. On the launch day alone, around 200,000 users registered, which sent a clear signal on the extent of the public’s demand for accessible digital services. The same infrastructure has since been extended to freight documentation and health and vaccine certificates, which proved especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

By making certificates more portable and easier to verify, the system reduced friction and improved access across multiple services. These experiences highlight an important lesson: technology alone does not solve fragmentation. The long-term impact of digital wallets on people’s lives depends on how they are designed, governed, and integrated across systems today. 

These examples of Malawi and Argentina underlined a key point from the webinar: for digital wallets to truly strengthen human security, they must be designed with appropriate safeguards from the start. Not everyone has access to the same type of devices, nor do they all have access to the same level of connectivity or digital literacy. This means to serve the needs of everyone, systems must be designed to work across different realities — from advanced smartphones to simplified offline solutions such as QR codes printed on paper. Through the lens of inclusive and sustainable development, the objective is not to choose between innovation and accessibility, but to design upgrade pathways that ensure no one is excluded as emerging technologies such as digital wallets evolve. 

Achieving this depends on meaningful collaboration across governments, developers, civil society and the private sector, as well as global discussions that allow countries at all levels of digital readiness and maturity to help shape approaches. Appropriate safeguards, shared standards and open-source components including DPGs shape the foundation for this cooperation. They make systems safer, more affordable and interoperable while enabling credentials issued in one context to be verified in another. When designed well with safeguards as a necessity, digital wallets give individuals greater control over their data, strengthening privacy while improving access to services.  

Scaling digital wallets responsibly 

As digital adoptions and artificial intelligence reshape public systems, digital wallets are rapidly becoming central to how people access services. To scale responsible, data protection and privacy frameworks must evolve in lockstep with the technology. Participants in the webinar emphasized that safeguards — including consent, purpose limitation, accountability and security — need to be embedded in both policy and system design to maintain trust. Open-source approaches further strengthen this trust by enabling transparency, local adaptation and reduced dependency on single providers, ensuring that technological innovation remains aligned with public values. 

Through Digital X, a matchmaking platform that makes scaling digital solutions across borders faster, easier, and safer, UNDP works with partners such as the Digital Public Goods Alliance and others to identify and scale solutions that strengthen human security across contexts. As countries transition from paper-based systems to digital credentials, the opportunity is not only to modernize administration, but also to expand development choices, inclusion and protect dignity for all.  

These knowledge-exchange, interactive webinars offer a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities of strengthening human security through digital public goods, bringing in diverse perspectives from policymakers, practitioners, solution providers and end users. Explore the full Digital X 3.0 webinar series here.