The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is proposing to require banks, e-wallet providers, digital lenders, and other regulated financial institutions to connect their customer verification systems to the government’s National ID database.
Under a draft memorandum, nearly all BSP-supervised institutions would need to onboard with the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS) for customer due diligence, including account opening and identity verification.
The proposal aims to strengthen know-your-customer (KYC) procedures while expanding the use of the National ID as the country’s primary and official proof of identity, subject to proper authentication.
The BSP said NIDAS would allow financial institutions to use biometric and demographic verification to support secure and reliable digital customer identification.
Under the proposed rollout, universal and commercial banks with retail banking services, digital banks, electronic money issuers, and virtual asset service providers would have three months from the memorandum’s issuance to submit their complete NIDAS applications.
Other universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, rural and cooperative banks, covered payment system operators, and other BSP-supervised institutions would have six months to comply.
Financial institutions registered after the memorandum takes effect would also be required to comply within the applicable three- or six-month period from their registration date.
The BSP clarified that the proposal would not prevent financial institutions from accepting other valid identification documents or using alternative verification methods, particularly when customers do not have a National ID or when NIDAS is unavailable.
Once customer due diligence is completed through NIDAS, the resulting authentication confirmation may satisfy identification requirements for first-time customers, potentially removing the need to present a physical or printed National ID.
Financial institutions would still be required to maintain appropriate anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing controls, cybersecurity safeguards, data protection measures, governance arrangements, and customer consent mechanisms.
The BSP said the proposed integration is intended to support financial inclusion and digitalization while protecting the integrity of the financial system.
The central bank would monitor the application and onboarding status of supervised institutions through the PSA and may impose supervisory enforcement measures on institutions that fail to comply.
The requirement remains a draft proposal and is not yet a mandatory requirement for BSP-supervised institutions.
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