The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the need for a universal and portable social protection system that can uniquely verify people and deliver benefits efficiently and at scale. With few exceptions, most developing countries have a patchwork of social assistance programs that are targeted and delivered to its beneficiaries. In most cases, the programs are not portable, meaning those who live and work in a place other than where they are registered—like many who have migrated domestically for work—are unable to access benefits. As a result, strict lockdowns enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus have resulted in distress and tragedy at a scale rarely seen before, especially for urban migrants. This has led to calls for a better, more flexible system of social transfers that can quickly identify and deliver relief to those who fall through the cracks, including the ‘new poor’ who have lost their livelihood as a result to the pandemic response.