Malaysia targets 17 million MyDigital IDs by end-2026

Malaysia is ramping up targets for its national digital ID system.

The country aims to reach 17 million MyDigital ID registered accounts by the end of this year. It will be a big jump as 7.3 million accounts were recorded at the end of 2025. How Malaysia managed to change the tune on MyDigital ID registrations was the subject of a PR campaign analysis.

“As of today, we have reached almost 10 million [accounts] and our target is a little further to reach 13 million,” said MyDigital ID Sdn Bhd deputy chief executive Azrin Aris. “When more and more consumers have MyDigital ID accounts, we hope this can reduce cases of online fraud.”

This time last year, only 1.8 million MyDigital accounts had been registered but now it stands at more than five times as many. Azrin highlighted growing awareness of cybersecurity and crime as a key driver of uptake, with MyDigital ID making it easier for Malaysians to remember usernames and passwords.

Digital financial fraud is still rising, however, with the National Cyber Security Agency revealing the rise. The agency’s chief executive Megat Zuhairy Megat Tajuddin said 5,159 cases of e-financial fraud were recorded in 2025 compared to 1,812 cases in 2024. This resulted in losses of RM458 million (US$117m), an increase from the RM65 million ($16.66m) in 2024.

“Identity has become a major risk, and as long as digital identity remains fragmented and unreliable, fraudsters will always find you,” he said.

Aris attended the signings of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with 15 banks and fintechs as MyDigital ID is leveraged to strengthen identity authentications across Malaysia’s financial ecosystem.

In a statement seen by Bernama, the companies said MyDigital ID’s e-verification technology will be used for the onboarding and transaction verification systems. “MyDigital ID is the only platform in Malaysia that verifies identities directly against the NRD database as the single source of validity in real time,” it said.

Malaysia’s banking sector is moving toward biometric-enabled digital identity, with 18 banks enrolled in the second testing phase of MyDigital ID. Phase 2 of the sandbox is focused on digital verification. Nationwide deployment would follow only if institutions demonstrate operational readiness and compliance with strict security requirements, regulators said.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  identity verification  |  Malaysia  |  MyDigital ID  |  national ID  |  onboarding