Digital ID authentication on smartphones launched

System a big leap towards online ecosystem, banking

Pakistanis will now be able to apply for ID cards and sign up for bank services using smartphones with the new biometric verification system launched by National

Database and Registration Authority.

Speaking to Gulf News, NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik said the organisation’s goal is “to revamp Pakistan’s identification system into a robust citizen-centric system rolling out digital public goods.”

He believes that technology that can’t empower ordinary people and enhance the state’s capacity to deliver on the social contract is meaningless.

Digitalisation is an attempt to break free from the conventional mindset that people have to come to government offices to get services as NADRA aims to transform the system so that “state services are available to the people at their doorstep” Malik said.

Pak Identity app

Using the digital ‘Pak Identity’ app on smartphones, all citizens including those living abroad will be able to digitally verify fingerprints, photographs and documents required for the ID card.

The app captures biometrics and scan documents digitally by using the phone camera.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who believes that digitalisation is key to ensure transparency in the system, appreciated the transformative initiative by National Database and Registration Authority and described it as a “revolutionary step in providing convenience, especially to overseas Pakistanis.”

We plan to revamp the identification system into a robust citizencentric system rolling out digital public goods. Technology that can’t empower is meaningless

Tariq Malik | NADRA Chairman