The Bangko Sentral Pilipinas has proposed tighter regulations that will limit the use of digital payment platforms for online gambling.
Following this announcement, the proposed regulations aim to apply a daily cap on fund transfers for bettors and heightened due diligence for operators of e-games.
In addition, the BSP is also currently consulting stakeholders on a draft circular that seeks to add rules on online gambling transactions to the regulations for payment service providers. The central bank hinted at the stricter rules earlier this month, with the Fintech Alliance Philippines, an institution that counts major players like GCash and Maya as its members, pledging to comply with the regulations.
More information on BSP’s proposition to tighten regulations on online gambling payments
According to Business Inquirer, the Bangko Sentral Pilipinas is set to require payment service providers to set a daily time window that will last no longer than six hours for processing online gambling-related transactions. At the same time, BSP-regulated entities will be required to also set a threshold for ‘heavy usage’ of online gambling payment services. If such a limit is reached, payment operators will need to implement a 24-hour ‘cooling off’ period. This initiative aims to allow the next transfer to be made only once the pause period ends.
In cases of heavy usage, users and customers will see ‘mandatory pop-up alerts’, which will be implemented in order to warn them of the risks of gambling and remind them to play responsibly. Furthermore, the central bank is set to also compel financial institutions to disable all lending options when a person links their e-wallet to an online gambling account.
Meanwhile, digital payment companies and firms will not be allowed to show users online gambling ads unless the clients have explicitly agreed to receive them, as employees of financial entities are also prohibited from engaging in online gaming activities.
The central bank will wait for the comments until July 25, 2025, as the regulator acts on the concerns raised recently by Church leaders and some lawmakers about e-gambling as a cause of addiction and financial ruin, as it becomes more accessible and aggressively promoted. Once approved, the draft circular is expected to require regulated entities that want to engage in online gambling payment services to secure prior authority from the BSP.
At the same time, these financial companies will be required to have a minimum capitalisation of USD 5 million (PHP 300 million), as well as a strong system against dirty money risks and fraud. Once approved, they will have six months from the effectiveness of the circular to secure the necessary permits from the BSP. Payment operators must also make sure that they are dealing with licensed online gaming platforms, as financial companies and firms will be required to submit reports on a monthly or on request basis, in which they will provide a detailed total of the gambling-related transactions and a list of partner e-games, among other information.
Moreover, errant payment operators may be given a maximum monetary penalty of USD 17.696 (PHP 1 million) for each transactional offense. This would be on top of non-monetary sanctions that include revocation of the permit to partner with online gaming firms, as well as suspension of authority to use the country’s overall payments settlement system.
