Ibrahim Eid, whose Valify solution won the 2019 Arab Financial Inclusion Innovation Prize, explains how e-KYC works and how a digital identity can give customers access to financial services.

Informal Savings Mechanisms (ISMs) have long been important to many people’s day-to-day money management across Africa. But as formal financial services become much more prevalent in the region, what will happen to these ISMs? Will they fall by the wayside as the digital revolution takes over?