Financial services industries advocate for stricter regulations to address the risks presented by online gambling activities.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, is currently drafting a new circular that focuses on digital payments for licensed online gaming. The aim is to protect consumers while maintaining access for licensed operators. This circular will apply to BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs), such as banks and electronic money issuers (EMIs), and will introduce safeguards to limit risks from online gambling accessed through digital payment platforms like e-wallets.
Key requirements for BSP-supervised institutions include enhanced consumer protection measures on digital platforms, limits on gaming access, strengthened customer due diligence and transaction monitoring, and restrictions on access for vulnerable groups, including minors and public employees. The circular builds on BSP’s prior mandates, including prohibiting digital platforms from facilitating unlicensed gambling and removing e-sabong access following government suspension.
The Fintech Alliance Philippines (Fintech Alliance PH), a key fintech industry group including leading players such as GCash, Maya, RCBC, CIMB, Tonik, Cebuana Lhuillier Bank, GoTyme Bank, Xendit, GrabPay, and Smart Communications, is expected to play a collaborative role in consumer education and industry engagement supporting the circular’s consumer protection objectives.
Lito Villanueva, the founding chairman of Fintech Alliance PH, stated that the alliance recognizes the growing concern over the impact of gaming and is committed to being part of the solution. The group emphasizes the need for strong oversight mechanisms when allowing online gaming payments through legitimate channels. Fintech Alliance PH has also committed to applying enhanced due diligence on all merchant accounts tied to licensed online gaming.
The BSP’s move follows earlier measures, including a 2021 prohibition on BSIs from engaging with unlicensed gambling entities and a 2022 directive to remove e-sabong links from digital platforms after a government-imposed ban. The initiative comes amid growing online gambling activity in the Philippines, driven by a large internet user base and mobile-first digital payments ecosystem. Concurrent legislative proposals seek stricter online gambling controls, such as raising minimum bets and banning direct links between gambling sites and digital wallets, highlighting the broader regulatory environment.
In summary, the BSP’s upcoming circular will require BSP-supervised institutions to implement robust safeguards limiting online gaming access through digital payments, aiming to protect consumers from gambling-related financial harms while ensuring authorized operators can conduct business. The Fintech Alliance PH is expected to play a crucial role in consumer protection education and industry engagement to support the circular’s objectives.
- The government, through the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), is implementing new regulations on digital payments for licensed online gaming, which will be applied to BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs) such as banks and electronic money issuers (EMIs), in an effort to safeguard consumers and limit risks from online gambling accessed through digital payment platforms.
- In response to the growing concern over the impact of gaming, the Fintech Alliance Philippines (Fintech Alliance PH), a key fintech industry group, has committed to play a collaborative role in consumer education and industry engagement, emphasizing the need for strong oversight mechanisms when allowing online gaming payments through legitimate channels and applying enhanced due diligence on all merchant accounts tied to licensed online gaming.
- Aiming to protect consumers from gambling-related financial harms while ensuring authorized operators can conduct business, the BSP's upcoming circular will require BSP-supervised institutions to implement robust safeguards limiting online gaming access through digital payments, and the economy may benefit from the increased focus on technology and finance in the gaming sector, as the initiative comes amid growing online gambling activity in the Philippines, driven by a large internet user base and mobile-first digital payments ecosystem.
