The Central Bank of the Philippines has issued a memorandum instructing BSP-supervised financial institutions to strengthen surveillance and monitoring controls to counter vote buying and selling ahead of the May 2025 elections, including potential misuse of online banking and mobile wallet applications. The guidance calls on firms to ensure customer onboarding, fraud management systems, and account and transaction monitoring settings can mitigate an expected influx of fraudulent accounts and suspicious transactions during the election season. It highlights red flags including spikes in account registrations in areas associated with vote buying or selling, large cash transactions during the election period, unusual transaction patterns, and high-volume or high-value cash-in and cash-out activity. The memorandum responds to a Commission on Elections request for stricter mechanisms against vote buying and selling and notes coordination with the Commission on Elections and the Philippine National Police, with suspected unlawful transactions to be reported to law enforcement authorities.
Central Bank of the Philippines 2025-03-25
Central Bank of the Philippines orders supervised financial institutions to strengthen monitoring of digital channels against election vote buying
The Central Bank of the Philippines directed BSP-supervised financial institutions to enhance surveillance and monitoring to counter vote buying and selling ahead of the May 2025 elections. Institutions should strengthen customer onboarding, fraud management systems, and transaction monitoring to detect spikes in account registrations, large cash transactions, and unusual patterns. This follows a request from the Commission on Elections and involves coordination with law enforcement authorities.