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The Philippines and Malaysia are exploring cross-border digital identity verification to enable secure access to public services, while Thailand‘s central bank is launching a regulatory crackdown targeting the “grey economy.”
The Philippines and Malaysia explore cross-border digital ID verification
The Philippines and Malaysia are looking to strengthen cross-border digital identity verification to make public services more accessible, safer, and more convenient for citizens. The Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia’s My Blockchain Infrastructure Sdn. Bhd. (MBI) and Zetrix Philippines Inc. to support the initiative.
“This collaboration allows us to make verification of government-issued credentials more secure and efficient across systems,” said DICT Secretary Henry Aguda. “More importantly, it helps remove unnecessary friction so citizens can access services faster and with greater confidence wherever they are.”
The MoU has the countries collaborating on technical development and real-world use cases of digital identity. It will focus on creating standards-based systems with strong privacy, cybersecurity, and national security safeguards.
Once implemented, the initiative will help reduce “the need for repeated identity checks when Filipinos access services in Malaysia and when Malaysians do so in the Philippines,” the DICT explained. Some of the potential use cases include employment onboarding, banking, travel transactions, business registration, and access to various government services.
Officials from the countries said the collaboration aims to build a trusted digital infrastructure that supports cross-border travel and trade while also safeguarding privacy and data security. They claimed that the project could eventually become a blueprint for interoperable digital identity systems across Southeast Asia if proven successful.
Thailand tackles grey economy on cash deposits and stablecoins
Elsewhere in Asia, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) is launching a regulatory crackdown in Q4 this year to target illicit financial flows, requiring individuals depositing THB 5 million ($149,160) or more in cash to explain the source of their funds, local news outlet The Nation reported.
BoT Governor Vitai Ratanakorn announced that the central bank will step up regulations on the “grey economy,” or the market that consists of cash that may come from suspicious sources, such as scam call centers that have been increasing in the country.
The regulation expands to include commercial bank compliance duties in cash networks, bulk currency exchanges, bullion trading, and suspicious stablecoin transactions, thereby preventing regulated entities from facilitating systemic corruption or shadow economies.
“The measures we are implementing are not short-term fixes; they require the continuous deployment of multiple parallel strategies,” Governor Vitai noted during an address at the 2026 Advanced Economic Journalist Capacity Development Project training session.
The deposit rules follow capital restrictions introduced in April, which mandate that anyone withdrawing 5 million baht or more in cash provide a verified commercial justification to their bank explaining why digital bank transfers or cheques couldn’t be used.
With this restriction, the central bank revealed that physical cash withdrawals decreased by 35% nationwide. The upcoming regulation will require a matching source-of-funds declaration when depositing.
The BoT is also evaluating measures to monitor large-scale banknote exchanges, particularly cases where individuals seek to convert large amounts of THB 1,000 ($29.83) notes into THB 100 or THB 500 ($2.98 – $14.91) or bills without legitimate business justification.
As for gold trading, the central bank has also tightened reporting rules to curb money-laundering risks tied to speculative bullion transactions. Regulators identified a pattern in which buyers purchased large amounts of gold through digital platforms and withdrew the physical gold from retail shops the same day.
With the new guidelines, financial institutions must now report such suspicious activity to the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO). Since the rules took effect, monthly physical gold withdrawals decreased from 4,000 kg to 700 kg.
Regarding institutional banking, the BoT mandates that all commercial banks conduct strict Know Your Customer (KYC) screening during account applications to prevent the opening of accounts linked to gambling networks. In its update, the BoT confirmed that it had frozen thousands of high-risk retail accounts linked to digital betting syndicates.
To reduce outflows from digital assets, the central bank is using advanced data analytics in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulatory authority for digital asset activities. The joint effort has provided detailed reviews of trading activity involving major stablecoins, including Tether (USDT).
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