> The potential for malevolence in a country the size of Togo is limited, but I'd rather not have the same processes in my own country.

The potential for building more advanced fraud protection systems also scales with the nation being discussed. Especially when you consider that the world's largest fraud protection experts are already operating within the borders of most of those richer nations.

Why not partner with MasterCard or VISA?

Having worked with the "fraud prevention" departments of the most advanced nation on earth in cases where they screwed up I can guarantee you they aren't that advanced.

>Why not partner with MasterCard or VISA?

Because the problem domain is different for credit card transactions compared to covid stimulus?

The problem domain is identity verification, by and large. Something that we have many, many very large multinational corporations solving on a transactional basis that absolutely dwarfs stimulus' programs needs.

Yet, somehow, the stimulus programs still require exorbitant amounts of their budget to verify known persons, and use this as a way to deny access to those who are most vulnerable.

If size of country is a determinant of public sector efficiency, there's an easy answer to many of the supposed problems of the public sector - secession.

Alternatively we could accept the role of outsourcing and the effects of the broken social fabric and the system-wide problems that remain unresolved in the anglosphere countries.

Or just decentralization.