The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), in marking its 175th year as lender, rolled out a new feature making the opening of a bank account easier for all Filipinos. The improvement comes from a formal partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), marked by the signing of a subscription agreement that adopts the National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS) for the BPI app.
TG Limcaoco, BPI president and CEO, said financial inclusion starts with giving people simple, reliable access they can trust. “We are proud to work with the PSA to add PhilSys to our account opening process,” he added.
With this update, anyone with a valid National ID record no longer needs to upload a photo of their physical ID when applying through the app. Users only need to take a selfie, which is checked securely against the official Philippine Identification System database. This cuts down steps and makes the whole process faster and more straightforward.
Fitzgerald Chee, BPI head of consumer platforms, noted that the change is part of efforts to make banking open to everyone. “This lets more people take that first step toward securing their financial future,” he said. The move builds on strong growth seen last year, when digital account openings through the BPI app rose 38 percent compared to 2024.
The integration also supports wider national goals. It helps the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reach its targets under the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, and makes formal banking available even to those with limited paperwork. Using the government’s official ID system also lowers the chance of fake accounts or identity misuse, adding extra safety for both clients and the bank.
BPI also reminded the public to stay alert. The bank will never call or message clients to ask for their National ID details, passwords, one-time codes or account information in connection with this service. Anyone receiving such requests should treat them as scams, use only official BPI channels for transactions, and report any suspicious activity right away.
