Success of NIDS lies with Jamaicans – IDB official

Benjamin Roseth, Modernization of State Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), believes that the success of the National Identification System (NIDS) card lies in the hands of Jamaicans.

He believes that if the NIDS ID is not useful for Jamaicans, it won't be a success. 

Speaking at the ceremony before the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with deposit-taking institutions in Jamaica on Friday at the Office of the Prime Minister, Roseth noted that digital transformation is a key tool to promote social and economic development. 

“Minister Green often says Jamaicans are utterly practical people and although I've just been here five months, I know man what he says to be true,” Roseth said. 

He continued, “Unless the NIDS can make Jamaicans lives better, it's not worth its weight in plastic.” 

The MoU, which was signed, will pave the way for NIDS cards to be the primary document used to open a bank account in Jamaica. 

Roseth also expressed concern about the difficulties average Jamaicans face to open a bank account and questioned the growth the country's sectors would have were it not so difficult for some citizens to open one.

“What if all these people had a bank account? Maybe the size of the formal secure would be bigger. Maybe household investment in health and education would be higher. Maybe there would be greater savings for retirement. Maybe there would be less robbery. But all these dreams start with the NIDS,” he said. 

He continued, “A secure and unique national ID is key for digital transformation, and I would show you that from Estonia to Uruguay, there is no successful case of digital transformation without this unique, secure and national ID, and I would conclude by saying I'm very happy because the Government of Jamaica, the people of Jamaica with the support of the IDB, are just a few months away from the support of this secure and unique national ID.” 

Floyd Green, Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, agreed with Roseth.

“Ben was right. If the card has no use, it really has no value. So all the work that we're doing to ensure that we have the most secure identification verification services in the region will amount to nothing unless our citizens see the use,” Green said. 

He said that based on a study by CAPRI called 'Check In: Increasing Access To Formal Financial Services' an estimated 17 per cent (500,000) of Jamaicans are unbanked. 

The government is about 97 per cent complete towards the setting up of the card production centre; 90 per cent towards the build-out of the software that will provide the back end services; and the first enrolment centre in Kingston is expected to finish in August and another four in some months. 

Persons have already been interviewed and are ready to become employed at that facility. 

The government is partnering with post offices across the island to utilise its build-out and 24 have already been identified that will be used for citizens to have easy access to the identification cards. 

Green said persons who don't have a birth certificate but want a NIDS ID can get the document under the new $50 million campaign called 'Project BirthRight'.

- Ainsworth Morris 

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