#customer verification

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. 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. Read more in our articles including "BSP proposes linking banks, e-wallets to National ID database" and "OPPO Philippines launches customer support website".