The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reminded both its supervised financial institutions and the public that the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) ID is considered a sufficient proof of identity to open a bank account.
In Memorandum No. M-2021-057 issued on Oct. 21, 2021, the BSP endorsed the Oct. 4, 2021 advisory issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority which reminds all government and private entities to accept the Philippine Identification card as sufficient proof of identity, subject to proper authentication.
This is in line with Republic Act No. 11055 or the PhilSys Act.
“PhilSys will help more Filipinos, especially the marginalized and low-income, to begin saving money in banks and other BSFIs,” BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday.
Diokno said the national ID system will support the wide-scale opening of transaction accounts, particularly the Basic Deposit Account, which is designed to meet the needs of the unbanked.
In support of the earlier PSA advisory, the BSP’s issuance instructs its supervised financial institutions that the PhilID, in both physical and mobile formats, shall be accepted as sufficient proof of identity without the need for another ID.
It also emphasized that PhilSys will offer online and offline methods for identity authentication through the PhilID physical security features, QR code digital verification, biometric verification, and SMS one-time password. These features will facilitate stronger and more secure methods of identity verification than traditional methods such as manual matching of a handwritten signature against a specimen.
BSP-supevised financial institutions are likewise directed to include the PhilID in their list of valid IDs to be displayed on their counters, public entrances of their establishments, websites, social
media accounts, and other consumer information channels.
The PhilSys is considered a major infrastructure component in the BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap, which was launched in October 2020 with the twin goals of digitizing 50 percent of the total volume of retail payment transactions by 2023 from 19 percent in 2019, and bringing account ownership among adult Filipinos to 70 percent by 2023 from 29 percent in 2019.
As of Oct. 21, 2021, the number of transaction accounts opened due to the co-location of PSA registration sites and Land Bank account opening facilities totaled 5,922,304 accounts.
The BSP further said that it wishes to inform the public that it has not issued new banknote designs or a new design series.
The BSP issued this advisory in r sponse to a 500-peso commemorative banknote first posted on a satirical news website being shared broadly on social media.
The BSP warns the public against a cepting fraudulent banknotes and encourages anyone in the know to report the use of fake banknotes to the police or to the BSP’s Pa ments and Currency Investigation Group (email address: [email protected]).
Under Republic Act No. 10951, counterfeiters of Philippine currency are subject to the pe alty of imprisonment of at least 12 years and 1 day and a fine not exceeding two million pesos.