Art Appraisal Blog

This paper discusses the main opportunities and challenges associated with digital social protection, drawing on trends pre-Covid and since the onset of the pandemic. It offers eight lessons to help social protection actors capitalize on technology’s potential in a risk-sensitive manner.

The past few years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of digital payments worldwide. The percentage of global transactions conducted in cash fell from 89 percent in 2013 to 77 percent in 2019, and mobile wallets grew in popularity. The demands of social distancing brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have only reinforced those trends. It has been projected that half of all people will use mobile wallets...

India offers lessons on the interaction of “real” and “digital” relief programs during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns when digital mechanisms have played a vital role in the delivery of social assistance benefits.

"The government introduced several measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, directed to (i) expanding coverage and/or increased benefit of cash transfer programs, (ii) modernizing delivery mechanisms, and (iii) alleviating certain restrictions on digital transactions...Other relief measures include exceptional wage and pension increases (of 14% starting next fiscal year), revised tax exemption thresholds, and increased minimum wage."