Philippines postal service introduces ID card for KYC

The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) has launched a postal identity card that will help citizens confirm their identities and addresses.

The new card will serve as an official government-issued ID document and will provide address verification for customers, according to PHLPost Postmaster General and CEO Luis Carlos.

Speaking at a conference in Manila held on Tuesday, Carlos said: “If you notice, a lot of IDs do not confirm the address of a person. That’s the first function of this ID, the KYC (know your customer).”

The postal identity card includes the owner’s full name, address, birth date and signature. In addition it carries the zip code denoting the owner’s province, municipality, city and barangay (native Filipino term for a district or ward). The ID card also includes a QR code in order to verify its authenticity.

The postal identity card will be delivered directly to customers and PHLPost is providing mobile enrollment services to ensure acquiring the ID is more accessible. The new identity card will help facilitate the correct delivery of mail and parcels, while delivering other advantages.

PHLPost has partnered with at least 150 merchants across the Philippines, which provides postal ID holders benefits such as discounts and freebies. More merchants are expected to partner with the postal corporation, the Postmaster General said.

“About the financial functionality, we are really looking at that one, to really answer the Bangko Sentral’s issue of the unbanked,” Carlos added.

The Philippines has long struggled with the issue and Carlos pointed to the fact that around half of the population do not have bank accounts. But the postal CEO said that research was underway to ascertain how postal ID could function as a digital bank, which would benefit those in remote areas.

Carlos indicated that the postal ID is recognized globally and accepted by government and financial institutions.

The Philippines has an ongoing aim to boost identity card ownership in the country. Last month, the Philippines Statistics Agency (PSA) said it would change up where it is printing PhilSys ID cards following the termination of the contract with the national ID card supplier.

Article Topics

address verification  |  banking  |  identity document  |  identity management  |  KYC  |  legal identity  |  Philippines  |  postal ID