In the Global South, sociotechnical systems such as digital national identification are expanding rapidly. States are using these systems to govern populations in the context of security and e-governance, with support from financial donors. As the debate about the promise of biometric identification intensified in the Global South, Nepal, a South Asian country, began considering introducing the digital national Identification system. This initiative was prompted by foreign aid from a multilateral bank through an e-governance project. During the project period (2008–2018), Nepal not only planned and designed the national ID system but also implemented it as smart cards. The government portrayed the system as a solution to inefficient governance and the lack of secure identification. This study investigates the situated and grounded nature of the digital ID system within the context of global impetuses. Using Nepal as a case study, this paper asks: How does foreign aid condition the development of digital identification systems in the Global South? The paper examines the assemblage of expertise, materiality, and interests, as well as the political economy, in the making of digital Identification.