The Philippines is revamping its national digital identity (Digital ID) programme to accelerate adoption and improve access to financial services.
Rebranding the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) to simply “National ID” aims to clarify the system for the public and unify various formats, including physical cards, paper documents, and digital versions.
The government aims to enrol all citizens, including children, by the end of 2025, emphasising improved access to public services as a key benefit.
A significant push is integrating the National ID with the PSAHelpline platform, streamlining applications for birth, marriage, and death certificates through online identity verification via QR codes and liveness checks.
This integration allows verified individuals to authorise trusted household members to receive certificates on their behalf, further simplifying bureaucratic processes.
To incentivise unbanked Filipinos to embrace digital IDs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is partnering with banks to offer incentives like free account opening for National ID registrants. Asia United Bank (AUB) has already integrated National ID authentication into its HelloMoney mobile wallet app, onboarding nearly 94,000 users since September 2024.
Other financial institutions, including LandBank, Dungganon Bank, and GoTyme Bank, have also joined the initiative, expanding the reach of digital ID-based financial services.
Beyond service integration and bank partnerships, the Philippines government is addressing logistical challenges to ensure wider availability of its non-digital, physical ID cards. Following past supply disruptions, the PSA is decentralising card printing by deploying mobile printers to PSA-owned facilities.
The move aims to prevent future delays and ensure a smoother rollout of the National ID, ultimately facilitating greater access to both public services and the increasingly digital financial sector.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik
