From Left to Right: Maria Celeste D.L. Balanza – Chief Administrative Officer, Financial and Private Sector Use Cases Division (PhilSys), Marela Lovely Y. Andres – Assistant National Statistician (PhilSys), Rosalinda P. Bautista – Assistant Secretary, Deputy National Statistician (PhilSys), Shern Whey Teo – Chief Strategy and Proposition Officer (GoTyme Bank), Maria Paz Gilda Puno – Chief Information Officer (GoTyme Bank), Cathriona Nolan – Chief Marketing Officer (GoTyme Bank)
Direct integration with the Philippine Identification System enables Filipinos to open a GoTyme Bank account in as little as five minutes with fewer verification steps.
GoTyme Bank has announced a partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), becoming one of the first banks in the Philippines to integrate directly with the National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS) at a system-level. This development fundamentally changes how Filipinos access banking services by allowing customers to open an account without the traditional requirement of scanning or uploading physical identity documents. It marks another step in GoTyme Bank’s mission to simplify and democratize banking by removing unnecessary barriers and making financial services easier to access for every Filipino.
While various financial institutions across the country accept the PhilSys card as a valid form of identification, GoTyme Bank is among the first to achieve direct, system-level integration. This integration completely removes the dependency on document capture during the digital account opening process. Instead, individuals can verify their identity using three flexible options: the QR code on their physical, digital, or paper PhilSys ID, their PhilSys Card Number (PCN), or a simple name and date of birth entry. By giving customers more ways to verify their identity, GoTyme Bank helps them complete account opening in as little as five minutes, with even fewer verification steps for those using PhilSys.
Breaking down barriers to financial inclusion
According to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), approximately half of Filipino adults remain unbanked or underbanked, with the lack of a verifiable ID cited as a primary barrier to formal bank account ownership. While over 94 million Filipinos have registered with PhilSys, digital account opening friction—specifically the document capture step—often causes potential users to abandon the process out of uncertainty regarding document validity.
By removing this friction at its source, GoTyme Bank’s account opening process provides immediate utility to the millions who hold a PhilSys record, particularly benefiting unbanked individuals, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and residents in areas with limited access to physical bank branches—all while helping customers continue opening an account in as little as five minutes through a simpler verification experience.
“With our direct integration into the National ID Authentication Services, GoTyme Bank can verify a customer’s identity against official government records in real time, making account opening simpler, faster, and more secure. What this means is the ability to open a GoTyme Bank account in as little as five minutes, with fewer steps. We are simplifying banking and making it easier for more Filipinos to access the financial services they need, unlocking the full potential of every Filipino.” said Shern Teo, Chief Strategy & Proposition Officer at GoTyme Bank.
A milestone for digital public infrastructure
The partnership proves the real-world value of digital public infrastructure, demonstrating how private sector innovation can build upon government systems to expand access to essential services. It establishes a precedent for PhilSys to operate not merely as a static, accepted document, but as an active, digital enabler of financial access.
As adoption of digital public infrastructure continues to grow, integrations such as this demonstrate how government-issued digital identity can help expand access to formal financial services. For GoTyme Bank, this integration represents another step toward making banking more accessible, secure, and easier to use for more Filipinos.
