The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines’ central bank, is seeking to limit the use of electronic wallets (e-wallets) and other digital payment platforms for online gambling.
The institution is proposing a daily cap on the transfer of funds to digital gambling platforms and heightened due diligence for operators of e-games, according to a draft circular shared with industry stakeholders. The central bank is garnering comments from the sector up to July 25.
The central bank flagged earlier this month its intention to introduce stricter rules. The news coincided with the Philippines’ Department of Finance announcing it was mulling a tax for the online gaming sector in the country, as well as the possibility of introducing stricter policies regarding access to digital gambling platforms.
The position taken by the authorities comes amid a growing chorus of voices in the Philippines calling for changes to the online gaming sector, ranging from tighter restrictions on access to digital gambling platforms, to additional taxes, and a ban on the use of e-wallets for gambling purposes. There have even been calls for a complete ban.
According to BSP’s proposal – cited in a number of local media outlets – the daily limit allowed to be transferred to online gaming accounts should not exceed 20 percent of a person’s average daily balance.
The central bank would also require payment service providers to set a daily time window – not exceeding six hours per day – for processing online gambling-related transactions.
BSP-regulated entities must also set a threshold for what the bank termed “heavy usage” of services for online gambling purposes. If such a limit is reached, payment operators must implement a 24-hour “cooling off” period.
The BSP said earlier this month it was “taking a collaborative approach to crafting the circular, to ensure that the final policy strikes a balance between protecting consumers and preserving access to digital payments for licensed businesses”.
The institution said it was “imperative” to ensure that digital payment services were “not misused for activities that are socially harmful and detrimental to financial health”.
If approved, the new rules would require regulated entities to secure prior authority from the BSP in order to engage in payment services for online gambling purposes.
The FinTech Alliance Philippines, described as the country’s largest organisation representing financial technology (fintech) companies, said in a statement last week that it supported calls for a strengthened regulatory framework on the use of digital financial services to access licensed online gaming platforms.
The head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), Alejandro Tengco, suggested last week that the answer to concerns about online gambling within the country was tighter control, not a total ban. The agency nonetheless has ordered the removal, by August 15, of all billboards and other out-of-home advertisements related to gambling activities.
