Digital IDs can connect ASEAN

Imagine a Thai family driving across the border into Malaysia, where officials authenticate their mobile driving license by scanning a QR code. A Filipino engineer could upload a digital qualification with a job application in Brunei and have it verified in seconds. An Indonesian company applying for a license in Singapore could prove its registration, while its representative could prove that they are authorized to act on the company’s behalf. Today, these cross-border transactions still rely heavily on paper, uploaded scans, and manual checks. Confirming that information is genuine and current can be slow and costly. Copies may also be altered, shared without consent, or reused for impersonation and scams. Verifiable credentials are secure, digitally signed versions of trusted information, such as a driving license, professional qualification, or company registration whose source and integrity can be checked instantly. Just as people keep cards in a physical wallet, they can store and present credentials in a digital wallet on their phone; businesses can use secure organizational wallets. A QR scan or phone tap using near field communication (NFC) lets the holder share only what is needed, for example, proof of being over a certain age instead of their date of birth or full identity data. The recipient verifies the issuer’s signature, online or offline, without needing to consult the source database. Making verifiable credentials widely usable within countries and across borders is a powerful opportunity for the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, or DEFA. Making trusted identities and credentials usable across borders would not only simplify travel, employment, investment and trade. It would also provide a foundation for innovative products and services built around trusted, reusable digital data, turning regional integration into tangible benefits for people and businesses. Across ASEAN, digital identity is becoming part of daily life. Almost every country is developing a digital identity wallet. Viet Nam’s VNeID has more than 67 million accounts, while Singapore’s Singpass reaches 97% of eligible residents. In Indonesia, the World Bank is supporting the national digital identity app, IKD, to improve service delivery and grow the digital economy. It is already used by more than 21 million citizens, with a target of reaching 100 million by 2029. The next step is to make these national systems work together. ASEAN does not need a single regional system or wallet. Rules on trusted issuers, wallet communication, privacy, security, and testing aligned with global standards can connect them, much as linked payment systems support cross-border payments. Europe shows what is possible: by the end of 2026, every EU Member State is expected to offer a wallet built to common specifications. Global alignment would also help ASEAN credentials work beyond the region and trusted foreign credentials within it. Interoperability multiplies the value of government-issued credentials. India now lets residents save an Aadhaar verifiable credential in Google Wallet for visa applications and age or identity checks. Governments can offer official wallets while allowing credentials to work in other trusted wallets, expanding choice and services while remaining the authoritative issuer. ASEAN should act now, but in phases. Willing countries should first make mobile driving licenses, professional qualifications, and business credentials work across borders, building on ASEAN’s Unique Business Identification Number (UBIN) initiative. National identity credentials and more sensitive uses can follow as confidence increases. Under a work plan endorsed by ASEAN Digital Ministers, the World Bank Group is working with Member States on a regional roadmap for digital identity and verifiable credentials. Alongside this work with governments, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector, is investing in companies such as Malaysia’s Zetrix AI to support digital identity verification and digital trade. Thailand is well placed to lead. Strong connectivity, high smartphone penetration and dynamic public- and private-sector capabilities enable digital public infrastructure to scale: ThaID has more than 33 million users, while PromptPay is ubiquitous. The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) was also the first in the region to develop a national verifiable credentials framework. It is fitting, then, that last week the World Bank Group convened ASEAN officials in Bangkok to shape a regional roadmap and co-hosted a global summit with ETDA and Task Force 7—an international group advancing standards for mobile identity credentials—to put interoperability into practice. This is part of a broader partnership. The World Bank Group and Thailand are developing a Digital Compact to scale investment in digital transformation and AI for jobs, productivity, and growth. As Bangkok hosts the IMF–World Bank Group Annual Meetings in October, Thailand can show how trusted digital infrastructure delivers at home and shapes cooperation abroad. ASEAN’s digital future will depend not on technology alone, but on trust, inclusion, safeguards, and cooperation.The World Bank Group looks forward to helping turn this ambition into systems that work for people and businesses, within countries and beyond. This article was previously published on Bangkok Post.