Philippines mandates national ID verification for BSP-supervised banks and VASPs

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued a draft memo proposing mandatory national ID verification for banks and other BSP-supervised firms, including virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The central bank says institutions must integrate with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS) to strengthen KYC. BSP requires the use of NIDAS via National ID eVerify for customer onboarding, account opening, and customer updates (digital or in-person). If an institution has not completed NIDAS onboarding, BSP directs it to use the National ID Check platform. A risk-based fallback is allowed: if the customer lacks a Philippine National ID or NIDAS is unavailable, firms can rely on other valid IDs and alternative verification methods. BSP also introduces two authentication tiers and states that when KYC is performed through NIDAS, the resulting NIDAS authentication confirmation can replace the need for a physical/printed National ID submission for first-time customers. Rollout comes in two phases: about three months after issuance for major retail-facing institutions (including universal/commercial banks with retail services, digital banks, electronic money issuers, and VASPs), and about six months for the remaining BSP-supervised entities. BSP warns that missing deadlines or failing to resolve onboarding integration delays could trigger supervisory enforcement actions. For crypto traders, this is primarily a compliance and infrastructure shift. It may pressure short-term onboarding operations for exchanges and fintechs due to KYC workflow integration costs, while potentially improving long-term customer verification quality and reducing identity fraud.