PhilSys digital ID enables 2.4M new financial inclusion accounts

More than 2.4 million unbanked registrants to the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) national digital ID have signed up for LandBank transaction accounts as of April 30, 2021, according to The Manila Times.

The announcement was made last Monday in a statement by LandBank, which confirmed the 2.4 million individuals opened an account with them by using their new PhilID as proof of identity.

The bank also added that 850,875 of them have also already received their LandBank Agent Banking Cards (ABCs).

“LandBank is one with the national government’s financial inclusion agenda,” commented LandBank President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia Borromeo.

“In partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), we are focused on opening accounts for up to 8 million low-income, unbanked individuals from the 32 PhilSys priority provinces at the soonest time,” Borromeo added.

More than 800,000 Filipinos have already successfully registered with the new online registration system for step 1 of PhilSys, according to a separate statement issued by PSA on Monday. Biometrics are added to the national digital ID record in step 2.

Jumio executive praises PhilSys program

Frederic Ho, VP of Asia Pacific at Jumio, recently published a guest post on Back End News, highlighting the benefits of the PhilSys program for both citizens and businesses.

Ho firstly mentioned the three major uses of PhilSys as highlighted by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) earlier this month: namely subsidy distribution, financial inclusion, and efficient vaccine distribution.

The Jumio executive went on to explain how other countries in Asia have noticed the benefits of digital identity verification, and are in the process of unveiling their own digital ID systems.

According to Ho, this would be largely due to the fact that more than a billion people around the world currently have no formal way of proving their identity, thus having difficulties accessing many government services.

The data also have repercussions on the private sector, where solid digital identity verification can both help improve the user experience while also lowering the risk of online fraud and identity theft.

Creating a national-wide ID verification system is not simple, Ho admitted, but the accessibility of biometric-enabled smartphones can today facilitate the process substantially.

Article Topics

banking  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  financial inclusion  |  financial services  |  identity management  |  identity verification  |  national ID  |  PhilID  |  Philippines  |  social security