What Happens to an Economy with Digital Public Infrastructure
SOURCE: GATES FOUNDATION
By Sanjay Jain - Director, Digital Public Infrastructure, Gates Foundation
Not long ago in India, a small business owner applying for a loan would need to bring her physical ID and paper financial records to a bank branch, fill out an application by hand, and wait for a loan offer to arrive in the mail. To compare offers from multiple banks, she would have to repeat the same process over and over.
Today, she can do it all from home. Using her digital ID, she can securely share her financial data with multiple banks at once, review competing offers in real time, sign a loan agreement digitally, and begin making payments directly, all within minutes.
No single company or app caused this transformation—it was made possible by India’s investment in safe, inclusive digital public infrastructure (DPI).