The Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) is a Pakistani identity card. The card is issued first at the age of 18 and it is not compulsory to carry one. The card is mandatory for opening bank accounts, for passport and almost all substantial monetary transactions (like buying of cars, land and other assets of high value).

In Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, all adult citizens must register for the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), with a unique number, at age 18. CNIC serves as an identification document to authenticate an individual's identity as the citizen of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. Before introduction of the CNIC, National Identity Cards (NICs) were issued to citizens of Pakistan. Now government has shifted all its existing records of National Identity Cards (NIC) to the central computerized database managed by NADRA.
New CNIC's are machine-readable and carry facial and fingerprint information.