Publication: The Payment System Used by Auxilio Emergencial: Introduction of the Digital Social Account, and the Banking of More than 100 Million People in 9 Months
Loading...
Published
2021-12
ISSN
Date
2022-01-18
Editor(s)
Abstract
The auxilio emergencial (AE) was the main social policy in response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis in Brazil, and one of the most vigorous in the world, both in terms of its generosity, speed, and coverage, as well as because of the program’s auspicious design. The AE payment system combined Caixa’s historical experience, responsible for operating the payment of social transfers such as Bolsa Familia, with innovative solutions. These allowed the use of a 100 percent digital means of payment and with an incentive to save, which contributed to the largest collection of savings in the Brazilian historical series. AE utilized three entry channels: (a) automatic selection of Programa Bolsa Família (PBF) beneficiaries who will be eligible to receive more significant benefits through the AE program; (b) the automatic selection of people registered in the largest administrative registry of Brazilian social programs but who were not beneficiaries of the PBF; (c) passive selection based on requests submitted through the app developed by CAIXA for this purpose, which led to the creation of a new temporary registry (the ExtraCad). The AE was created to be a temporary program, with an expected duration of only three months. However, the benefit was reissued in 3 versions (each with its legal diploma) which share the same operational structure, although they maintain significant differences in their rules and procedures.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Lara de Arruda, Pedro; Lazarotto de Andrade, Marina; Falcao, Tiago; Teixeira Barbosa, Diana; Morgandi, Matteo. 2021. The Payment System Used by Auxilio Emergencial: Introduction of the Digital Social Account, and the Banking of More than 100 Million People in 9 Months. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36837 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Auxílio Emergencial - Lessons from the Brazilian experience responding to COVID-19(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021)The Auxílio Emergencial (AE) was one of the most agile, robust, and extensive social protection programs implemented by developing countries. Having reached up to 55.6 percent of the population, considering both direct and indirect beneficiaries, the program has shown impacts in improving the average income and reducing the prevalence of poverty and inequality (as measured by the Gini index1 ), compared to immediate pre-pandemic levels. The success of the program can be attributed both to its robustness and to its complex architecture, marked by innovations which should be analyzed by their integration potential in relation to regular social protection policies and measures to increase adaptation to the social protection system, both in Brazil and in other countries.Publication Challenges and Potentialities for Implementing Social Protection Responses to Emergency Through Decentralized Administration(World Bank, Brasilia, 2022-01)With the advent of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Brazil has come out with one of the fastest and most generous social protection responses globally. Auxilio Emergencial (AE’s) operation is in contrast to that of regular social protection programs due to its highly centralized setup with limited formal involvement of subnational governments. Therefore, this analysis aims at understanding some core reasons why this happened and what were the main implications of this centralized operation to the program. The text also describes measures that were enacted to mitigate challenges due to the exclusion of subnational governments from the operation of AE and discusses the extent to which these can integrate traditional decentralization mechanisms of regular programs in the future and further improve the sectoral case management capacity at large. This paper is structured in seven chapters. Chapter one is introduction, chapter two presents a conceptual framework describing main forms of decentralization and discussing their adequacy to different contexts and traditional functions of the social protection sector. Chapter three presents an overview of AE highlighting its centralized setup and already discussing some main reasons why traditional decentralization mechanisms, such as the unified social assistance system (SUAS), were not formal members of the program. Chapter four discusses legacies of SUAS historical support to social protection in Brazil and how these have contributed to AE even if the system was not formally involved in the program. Chapter five describes some main challenges faced by AE and that can arguably have been mitigated had SUAS and or other subnational governments been part of its formal operation. Chapter six considers how SUAS and decentralized forms of social protection were nevertheless relevant as complementary measures to that provided by AE. Finally, chapter seven concludes by summarizing some core lessons learned for engaging decentralized mechanisms in emergency responses in the future.Publication Optimizing Labor Market Programs and Strengthening Delivery Systems for Impact and Scale(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-09)This paper examines the design and implementation of labor market (LM) programs to address employment challenges across diverse economic contexts. LM programs are critical in enhancing employment opportunities, increasing productivity, and fostering resilience among workers. The analysis highlights gaps in program spending and its alignment with LM needs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using global data, the paper emphasizes the importance of tailored interventions, robust delivery systems, and strategic investments to address structural constraints and adapt to crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper also includes a framework for aligning LM programs with labor market realities to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth.Publication A Conceptual Framework for Labor Market Delivery Systems in Low- And Middle-Income Countries. Seeking Efficiency, Scale, and Impact(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-13)This paper presents a conceptual framework to guide the development of labor market delivery systems suitable for low- and middle income countries. Case studies show that in most countries labor market programs are characterized by high fragmentation (in financing, delivery agencies), poor or absent targeting criteria, limited or absent tracking of beneficiaries’ outcomes, and limited information for people and firms to exercise choice. The result is a suboptimal use of resources and limited quality assurance. In this context, we conceptualize labor market delivery systems as a set of functions that are delivered on three levels: (i) a delivery chain used to deliver individual programs; (ii) functions that enable coordination and synergy of multiple programs at the local level, typically performed by a designated territorial labor market agency (iii) and a set of governance functions, supported by common IT systems, that help regulate and assure quality, typically (but not always) provided by a central government agency. The paper then discusses these functions and gives select examples, especially from developing countries. At the center of the approach are territorial labor market institutions that help correct some of the market failures, by closing information gaps, avoiding cream skimming by providers, monitoring program implementation, and, in advanced cases, becoming true gateways to individual programs. While in many countries public employment services play this role, the paper argues for a more flexible approach to consider a broader range of institutions for such roles, considering that labor intermediation is just one of many potential interventions that workers may need. The framework is intended as a tool for policymakers and practitioners to map out functions against their institutional landscape, identify gaps, and propose reforms that can help deliver labor market programs more effectively.Publication Portraits of Labor Market Exclusion(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014-08)The financial crisis that hit the global market in the middle of 2008 gave way to the sharpest contraction of the European economies since the Great Depression. In 2009 the economic output in the countries of the European Union shrank 4.5 percent, the largest reduction in GDP since its creation. Since then, the economies have slowly recovered, but unemployment has continued to rise, reaching 11 percent in 2013, up from 7.1 percent in 2008. The economy of the European Union shrank 4.5 percent, the largest reduction in its GDP since the Union s creation. Furthermore, for the European Union as a whole, long-term unemployment among 15- to 64-year-olds has increased from 37.2 percent in 2008 to 47.5 percent of total unemployment in 2013. In several countries more than half of those unemployed are long-term unemployed, that is, they have been looking for jobs for more than 12 months. In Greece and Bulgaria the share of long-term unemployed in 2013 was 67.5 percent and 57.3 percent, respectively. Youth unemployment, on the other hand, has increased almost 8 percent since 2008, reaching 23.3 percent in 2013 in the EU-28 countries. In Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, around a fourth of 15- to 24-year-olds are unemployed; in Greece close to 60 percent of youth were unemployed in 2013. Long spells of unemployment expose individuals to impoverishment. They can also lead to deterioration of skills and detachment from the labor market. Youth unemployment is particularly concerning as it risks damaging longer-term employment prospects for young people, leading them to face higher risks of exclusion and poverty. Youth unemployment also has growth implications as a generation of educated and productive people are not working at their potential. Finally, very high levels of youth unemployment for long periods of time can become a threat to social stability.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication The Gambia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-02)Agriculture is a vital sector in the Gambia. It accounts for about 17.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), ranking behind the services sector, which recorded 68.8 percent of GDP. Employment in agriculture appears to be mainly driven by women, who are more likely to engage than men. In general, more than two-thirds of Gambians reside in rural areas and derive their livelihoods from agriculture and related activities. Therefore, the sector is a prime area for investment to achieve poverty reduction as stated in the country’s vision 2020 document. Agriculture is an important source of income for households, behind wages and salaries and petty trading. The agriculture sector plays an important role in ending hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty. In rural areas, the agriculture sector’s role in poverty reduction and shared prosperity policies is particularly important.Publication The Global Findex Database 2025: Connectivity and Financial Inclusion in the Digital Economy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-16)The Global Findex 2025 reveals how mobile technology is equipping more adults around the world to own and use financial accounts to save formally, access credit, make and receive digital payments, and pursue opportunities. Including the inaugural Global Findex Digital Connectivity Tracker, this fifth edition of Global Findex presents new insights on the interactions among mobile phone ownership, internet use, and financial inclusion. The Global Findex is the world’s most comprehensive database on digital and financial inclusion. It is also the only global source of comparable demand-side data, allowing cross-country analysis of how adults access and use mobile phones, the internet, and financial accounts to reach digital information and resources, save, borrow, make payments, and manage their financial health. Data for the Global Findex 2025 were collected from nationally representative surveys of about 145,000 adults in 141 economies. The latest edition follows the 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2021 editions and includes new series measuring mobile phone ownership and internet use, digital safety, and frequency of transactions using financial services. The Global Findex 2025 is an indispensable resource for policy makers in the fields of digital connectivity and financial inclusion, as well as for practitioners, researchers, and development professionals.Publication Social Protection Response to the COVID-19 Crisis in the Dominican Republic(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01)The Government of the Dominican Republic (DR) adopted a series of economic and social measures to protect households and businesses and prevent employment losses as a response to the Coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) health and economic crisis. Social protection policies and programs have been used globally as effective mechanisms to respond to the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy note aims to document and analyze the design and implementation of the three main cash-transfer programs that the government used to protect households and workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The programs that are part of the scope of the note are: (1) stay at home (quédate en casa, QEC), (2) the employee solidarity assistance fund (fondo de asistencia solidaria del empleado, FASE), and (3) the independent worker assistance program (programa de asistencia al trabajador independiente, PA’ TI). The analysis of these programs is based on a desk review of administrative and legal documents, media information, program reports, and operational rules. The policy note is organized as follows: first, it provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and identifies the potentially affected population. Second, it provides a description of the design and implementation of the three social protection programs and their expenditures. Finally, it discusses lessons learned, including challenges and opportunities to improve social protection policies, based on an adaptative social protection framework.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication The Role of Digital in the COVID-19 Social Assistance Response(Washington, DC, 2022)The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in vast numbers of people in need of social assistance, many of whom were not previously covered by social safety nets. To meet this unprecedented level of need, governments quickly scaled social assistance reaching over 1.7 billion people in low- and middle income countries. Scaling up social assistance presented two separate but related challenges: first, adapting targeting and registration to reach individuals not commonly included in social assistance databases, such as urban informal workers, and second, how to deliver government to person (G2P) payments safely and securely in the context of the pandemic. Countries that could leverage pre-pandemic investments in digital public infrastructure (DPI)— identification (ID), payments and trusted data sharing—were better able to implement COVID-response social assistance programs and reach more beneficiaries. This paper, analyzes the role of these DPIs, also called digital stack, in the social protection response to COVID by analyzing data on howCOVID-response social assistance programs register red and made payments to beneficiaries across178 programs across 85 countries. The analysis shows how these digital systems and infrastructure allowed for innovative targeting, registration, and payment approaches that covered a significantportion of the population. This paper uses administrative data on G2P registration and payment methods combined with anecdotal evidence from country case studies to show how pre-pandemic investments in digital databases, digital ID, and digital payments impacted countries’ abilities to reach new beneficiaries and deliver payments safely in the context of the pandemic response. It further details workaround solutions implemented by countries without these assets and infrastructure in place, and how some countries were able to expand their digital infrastructure even amidst the urgency of the crisis response. The analysis concludes with suggestions as to the impact that the social assistance response to COVID-19 can have on the future of social protection payments, in terms of inspiring investments in building and strengthening G2P ecosystems globally.