Cheyenne Suarez

BPI, PSA partnership allows bank account opening without ID

Article (news)

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) inked a partnership to allow the public to open a bank account even without an ID, provided they are registered with Philsys.BPI President and Chief Executive Officer TG Limcaoco said they have incorporated the PSA National ID Authentication Services eVerify platform into their system. This means new users only need to take a selfie via the BPI app.&quot;National ID holders no longer need to upload a photo of their ID or any ID. Instead, they simply take a selfie, which is securely verified against their Philsys record, making the account opening process faster, more convenient, and seamless,&quot; Limcaoco said.He added, &quot;To me, this is the way you should be opening a bank account.&quot;PSA Deputy National Statistician Rosalinda Bautista welcomed the partnership with BPI. PSA also had similar partnerships with a few other banks, but she hopes all financial institutions will link to their system to make banking transactions easier and accessible to more Filipinos.&quot;Every Filipino deserves convenient and trusted access to essential services, especially financial services,&quot; Bautista added.Limcaoco said with this partnership, he hopes more Filipinos will find it easier to open a bank account, and this will push towards greater financial inclusion in the country.&quot;Financial inclusion begins with access, and access should be seamless, access should be simple, and access should be built on trust,&quot; he said.Both BPI and PSA said the system is safe and secure.Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda praised the partnership, saying this will help more Filipinos. He is eyeing to expand this type of collaboration to other sectors.&quot;It now emboldens me to talk to the telcos doon sa SIM registration niyo, national ID na lang dapat ang tanggapin niyo,&quot; Aguda said.Bautista said there are now 92.9 million Filipinos with a national ID number and who have verifiable credentials. PSA has partnered with other institutions for the eVerify platform like some schools, hospitals, PhilHealth, among others. She hopes all industries will use the system.

BPI President and Chief Executive Officer TG Limcaoco said they have incorporated the PSA National ID Authentication Services eVerify platform into their system.

BPI President and Chief Executive Officer TG Limcaoco said they have incorporated the PSA National ID Authentication Services eVerify platform into their system.