The G2Px Initiative was launched in early 2020 in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This initiative contributes to the broader agenda of improving government-to-person (G2P) payments through digitization. The objective is to shift the G2P digitization paradigm beyond program-specific efficiency gains to one that simultaneously accelerates critical development outcomes such as financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, and government fiscal savings. Through this initiative, the World Bank Group seeks to establish a framework, develop best practices and provide upstream technical assistance to radically improve G2P payments globally. This initiative will help build a global movement ensuring that all G2P programs aim and design for broader inclusion and empowerment outcomes through a focus on digitization.  

G2P payments have never been more important, as governments worldwide seek for ways to respond to the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 100 countries have announced plans to scale up social assistance payments. The challenge of making these massive payouts to the poor and informal sector workers is highlighting the differences between the G2P payment ecosystems across countries. Given governments’ urgency to provide cash assistance quickly and with transparency and accountability, the G2Px agenda of digitizing payments and promoting choice and interoperability is more important now than ever.