Identity verification in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is the largest Pacific Island state by population and land mass, one of the most linguistically diverse countries on Earth with over 800 languages, and a resource-rich economy where gold, copper, and LNG exports account for roughly 86 percent of all export earnings. It is also a jurisdiction where 80 percent of the population remains unbanked, civil registration coverage is among
Documents supported
(Government IDs from 220+ countries)
Average verification time
Countries covered
(Government-issued IDs validated)
Market overview
Papua New Guinea has a population of approximately 10.6 million (2024 census), a GDP of roughly US$32.5 billion (2024), and a GDP per capita of around US$2,572 -- placing it firmly in the lower-middle-income bracket. The economy is structurally dual: a capital-intensive extractive sector (gold, copper, LNG, oil) that generates the overwhelming majority of export revenue, and a subsistence-agriculture sector that employs roughly 85 percent of the labour force. Urbanisation is low; about 87.5 percent of the population lives in rural areas spread across more than 600 islands, connected by limited road networks and patchy telecommunications infrastructure. Five structural facts shape the identity-verification market in PNG:
Supported documents
Didit templates cover national IDs, passports, residence permits and regional documents — plus 14,000+ documents globally for cross-border flows.
Regulators
AML supervisor
National Identity and Civil Registry Office
restricted
National ID card program. NID number assigned. Biometric enrollment in progress but coverage limited, especially in rural/highland areas.
National Identity and Civil Registry Office
restricted
Civil registration. Very low coverage. Many births unregistered, especially in rural areas.
Government & regulated databases
Compliance framework
AML framework
Supervised by Proceeds of Crime Act
PNG's AML/CFT architecture was substantially rebuilt in 2015 through a package of five laws enacted in response to the country's first FATF grey listing in 2014:
Data protection
Supervised by National DPA
Use cases
Neobanks, EMIs, payment institutions, lenders, brokerages.
PNG launched SevisPass, a national digital identity system, on 24 November 2025 during the Digital Transformation Summit. The system is built on TECH5's T5-OmniTrust platform and represents the first decentralised digital public infrastructure (DPI) ecosystem in Oceania.
Exchanges, custodians, wallets, on/off-ramps.
BPNG-supervised entities operate under the AML/CTF Act 2015, BPNG Prudential Standard BPS253: Customer Due Diligence Standards, and FASU guidelines. A standard onboarding flow:
Sports betting, online casinos, age-gated platforms.
Mobile money is the financial-inclusion frontier in PNG and the vertical where identity verification volumes will grow fastest. The major providers:
Gig platforms, delivery, creator economy, e-commerce.
Gambling in PNG is regulated by the National Gaming Control Board (NGCB) under the Gaming Control Act 2007. The NGCB issues licences for casinos, sports betting, lotteries, and gaming machines.
Biometric liveness
Database-only KYC verification is not available in Papua New Guinea. There is no government identity database exposed to the private sector via API or real-time query mechanism. The CIR database, ICA passport records, and other government data stores are siloed, largely offline, and restricted to government use. The SevisPass digital identity initiative could eventually create a verification channel, but it is in early deployment (piloted 2024, integration exercises 2025) and coverage is limited
CERTIFICATIONS
Our platform meets the highest international standards for information security, data privacy, and biometric accuracy.
Full EU data protection compliance
Information security management
PAD (liveness + face match)
TRUSTED WORLDWIDE
Join thousands of companies that trust Didit for their verification needs
Didit’s NFC + active biometrics technology blocks the most advanced fraud scenarios, offering a level of security equivalent to or superior to in-person verification.
Spanish Financial Sandbox
CNMV, SEPBLAC & Spanish Treasury — Conclusions Report
Didit is an exceptionally valuable partner, delivering a stable and highly adaptable solution”.
Vuk Adžić
Head of the E-Business Department at Crnogorski Telekom
Didit offered us a robust technology with a simple implementation and adaptability to different markets”.
Fernando Pinto
CEO & CoFounder at TucanPay
Thanks to Didit we have been able to reduce manual processes and improve data extraction accuracy”.
Diana Garcia
Trust & Safety Executive at Shiply
Didit’s integration slashed verification times and costs, freeing resources for other projects”.
Guillem Medina
COO at GBTC Finance
Didit removed KYC costs, enabling faster scaling with high verification standards and less fraud.”
Paul Martin
VP Marketing & Growth at Bondex
Didit’s secure, user-friendly verification boosts customer trust and optimizes our process.”
Cristofer Montenegro
Executive assistant to the CEO at Adelantos
Didit ensures a precise, secure digital onboarding without slowing negotiations or client time.”
Ernesto Betancourth
Gerente de riesgos at CrediDemo
FAQ
Yes. Papua New Guinea permits remote KYC onboarding under its national AML framework, including document verification, biometric liveness and video identification where required by regulation.
Didit verifies all major national IDs, passports and residence permits issued in Papua New Guinea, plus 14,000+ document types globally for cross-border flows.
Didit charges $0.30 per verification with 500 free checks per month. No contracts, no minimums. Competitors typically charge $1.00–$2.50+ per verification.
Yes. Didit screens against 1,000+ global watchlists including PEP databases, sanctions lists (EU, UN, OFAC, OFSI), and adverse media — covering all AML obligations in Papua New Guinea.
Most regulated sectors in Papua New Guinea require or strongly recommend biometric liveness detection for remote onboarding. Didit provides ISO 30107-3 PAD Level 2 certified liveness.
Yes. Didit supports document verification, liveness, AML screening and ongoing monitoring aligned with Papua New Guinea’s crypto regulatory framework, including EU Travel Rule compliance where applicable.
Yes. Didit provides document-based age verification and identity confirmation suitable for Papua New Guinea’s iGaming regulatory requirements.
500 free verifications per month. No contracts, no minimums. $0.30 per verification after the free tier.
