THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is requiring most banks and financial institutions under its supervision to integrate with the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) National ID Authentication Services (Nidas) to strengthen customer verification.

In a draft memorandum, the BSP said covered institutions must onboard with Nidas for customer due diligence (CDD), supporting wider use of the national ID as the country’s primary and official proof of identity.

The requirement would cover nearly all BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs), except payment system operators that do not perform CDD, such as those that do not collect or verify customer or merchant identities.

“The BSP aims to advance the secure and broader adoption of the national ID across the financial sector while supporting financial inclusion, digitalization, and financial integrity objectives,” BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said.

Nidas would allow financial institutions to authenticate customers through the national ID system and strengthen their know-your-customer (KYC) processes.

At a minimum, institutions must use Nidas for customer onboarding, account opening and risk-based account updating.

Those that have not completed Nidas onboarding must use the National ID Check service to verify IDs presented by customers.

Financial institutions may still use other valid identification documents and verification methods based on their risk assessments, particularly when customers do not present a national ID or when Nidas is unavailable.

The BSP proposed a phased implementation, with institutions that have significant retail operations and digital onboarding required to comply first.

Universal and commercial banks with retail banking services, digital banks, electronic money issuers and virtual asset service providers have three months from the memorandum’s issuance to comply.

Other universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, rural and cooperative banks, payment system operators with KYC or know-your-merchant functions, and other remaining BSIs, have six months to comply.

Institutions would initially be considered compliant once they submit a complete application to the PSA along with the required documents.

The BSP would also require institutions to adopt appropriate Nidas authentication methods for face-to-face and digital onboarding based on the risk profile of customers, products, services and transactions. Authentication may include biometric and demographic verification.

Institutions fully integrated with Nidas may rely on its authentication results to streamline customer identification and verification, subject to existing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism and proliferation financing rules.

The proposal also requires adequate governance, cybersecurity safeguards, data protection, customer consent mechanisms and anti-money laundering controls.