BSP draft memo seeks National ID integration across banks, financial firms

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in coordination with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is proposing to require banks and other supervised financial institutions to integrate with the government’s National ID authentication infrastructure.

Under a draft memorandum released by the BSP for public consultation, BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs) would be required to connect with the PSA’s National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS) for customer due diligence and identity verification, where applicable.

“BSIs shall integrate with the National ID System by onboarding with NIDAS through National ID eVerify (https://everify.gov.ph/) and submitting the complete application and onboarding requirements prescribed by PSA for relying parties (RPs) within the target integration timelines provided in this Memorandum,” the BSP draft memorandum stated.

“Pending completion of NIDAS onboarding, BSIs shall use the National ID Check (https://everify.gov.ph/check) to verify the authenticity of the National ID presented by customers. At a minimum, NIDAS authentication shall be embedded in: (i) customer onboarding and account opening; and (ii) risk-based account updating,” it addded.

The proposal covers universal and commercial banks, digital banks, electronic money issuers, virtual asset service providers, thrift banks, rural and cooperative banks, and other BSP-supervised entities that perform customer identity verification.

At the center of the proposed integration is National ID eVerify, which enables institutions to authenticate customers against the National ID registry through an application programming interface or API.

Once integrated, financial institutions would be expected to use NIDAS at a minimum for customer onboarding and account opening, as well as for risk-based updating of customer information.

Pending full integration, covered institutions would have to use National ID Check to verify the authenticity of National IDs presented by customers.

The BSP said institutions may use biometric and demographic authentication depending on the risk profile of the customer, product, service, or transaction.

For first-time customers successfully authenticated through NIDAS, the authentication result may satisfy identification requirements without requiring the customer to submit a physical or printed National ID.

The National ID authentication infrastructure is being implemented by the PSA with support from the DICT as part of the government’s broader digitalization program.

The PSA and DICT jointly rolled out the Digital National ID, National ID eVerify, and National ID Check in 2024. The Digital National ID is also accessible through the DICT-developed eGovPH platform.

The BSP proposal could further expand the use of the government-backed digital identity system from accessing public services to identity verification across the banking and financial sector.

Under the draft memorandum, implementation would be conducted in phases.

Universal and commercial banks with retail banking operations, digital banks, electronic money issuers, and virtual asset service providers would be included in Phase 1 and would have three months from the issuance of the final memorandum to submit the required NIDAS onboarding requirements.

The second phase would cover the remaining universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, rural and cooperative banks, payment system operators with customer or merchant verification functions, and other covered BSP-supervised institutions. They would be given six months from issuance to comply.

The BSP also clarified that financial institutions may continue accepting other valid identification documents and verification methods when customers do not present a National ID or when NIDAS is unavailable.

The proposed policy is aimed at expanding the secure use of the National ID in the financial sector while supporting digitalization, financial inclusion, and financial integrity.

The BSP document remains a draft memorandum, with the memorandum number and issuance date still blank, meaning the proposed requirements and compliance timelines are not yet final.