BSP Ramps Up Production of Biometric IDs in the Philippines

“The national IDs will increase financial inclusion, allowing people with no other form of official ID to open bank accounts and conduct transactions…”

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects to print 23 million biometric IDs in the Philippines in 2020. In addition to a photo, the new IDs will contain fingerprint and iris biometrics information, and will be issued as part of a deal with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in an ongoing effort to implement a biometric ID program comparable to India’s Aadhaar system.

The national IDs will increase financial inclusion, allowing people with no other form of official ID to open bank accounts and conduct transactions. The PSA is overseeing the Philippine Identification System that was signed into law in 2018, and will be accepting bids for the biometric registration system in May.

In the meantime, the Philippines has been encouraging citizens to enroll their biometric information with the Commission on Elections through voter registration drives that rely on fingerprint recognition for identity verification. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the country’s voter registration tablets were built with Gemalto’s authentication tech.  

BSP expects to release 16 million national IDs in the first quarter of 2020 before ramping up production to produce 107 million IDs by 2022. The bank is currently leasing its production machines, but plans to buy its own equipment within the next four years. It will also resume the production of passports, which ceased in 2015.

Source: Manilla Bulletin

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August 15, 2019 – by Eric Weiss