Vaccine Companies Partner with Mastercard to Merge Vaccines with Cashless Money System

A partnership between the Bill Gates-backed GAVI vaccine alliance and the biometric ID company, Trust Stamp, will test a digital identity system to be linked to Mastercard’s click-to-pay system. The goal is to eliminate cash. The program will be introduced in West Africa and will be tied to the COVID-19 vaccine to be made mandatory in 2021. Your vaccine status will be updated as you receive more vaccines. No vaccines? No money. That’s the ultimate control. -GEG

A biometric digital identity platform that “evolves just as you evolve” is set to be introduced in “low-income, remote communities” in West Africa thanks to a public-private partnership between the Bill Gates-backed GAVI vaccine alliance, Mastercard and the AI-powered “identity authentication” company, Trust Stamp.

The program, which was first launched in late 2018, will see Trust Stamp’s digital identity platform integrated into the GAVI-Mastercard “Wellness Pass,” a digital vaccination record and identity system that is also linked to Mastercard’s click-to-play system that powered by its AI and machine learning technology called NuData. Mastercard, in addition to professing its commitment to promoting “centralized record keeping of childhood immunization” also describes itself as a leader toward a “World Beyond Cash,” and its partnership with GAVI marks a novel approach towards linking a biometric digital identity system, vaccination records, and a payment system into a single cohesive platform.

The effort, since its launch nearly two years ago, has been funded via $3.8 million in GAVI donor funds in addition to a matched donation of the same amount by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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