BPI partners with PSA to let national ID holders open accounts with a selfie

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Thursday announced a partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), allowing the public to open accounts by verifying their identification through a selfie, provided that they already have a national ID.

This comes as BPI formally adopted the National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS), which removes the need for users to upload a physical ID when opening a new account through the bank’s mobile app.

Instead, they will only need to take a selfie through the app.

Under the partnership, BPI accounts may be linked to a legitimate and uniquely verified individual through a government-backed ID system, which the bank said reduces risks of opening fake accounts.

“At BPI, we believe that financial inclusion begins with access. And access should be simple, seamless, and built on trust,” BPI president and CEO Jose Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco said in an emailed statement.

“This is why we are proud to partner with the PSA to integrate PhilSys into the account-opening journey through the BPI app,” he added.

BPI recorded a 38% growth in digital account openings through its mobile app in 2025, which it attributed to the shift of Filipinos to mobile-first banking.

Limcaoco earlier said he is confident that the bank will achieve low-teen loan growth this year, as BPI strengthens its collections amid challenging economic conditions.

The Philippine economy grew by 2.8% in the first quarter of the year, slower than the 3% expansion in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the 5.4% growth recorded a year earlier. It was the weakest economic performance since the -3.8% contraction during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in the first quarter of 2021.

Economic officials have attributed the slowdown to the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran in the Middle East, as well as the lingering impact of the flood control project corruption scandal on government spending. — BM, GMA News