BSP wants separate transaction accounts for online gambling

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is looking to have payment service providers (PSPs) create a facility that would allow users to create a separate online gambling transaction account (OGTA), which will then be placed under stricter rules in a bid to protect clients from risks associated with the industry.

Under a draft circular released to stakeholders for exposure, the central bank is looking to have players create an OGTA in order to participate in online gambling. With the creation of an OGTA, all lending options in the digital platform will be disabled.

Eligible OGTA owners will undergo enhanced know your customer (KYC) measures, and will be required facial biometric verification for account opening, along with periodic re-verifications to reduce the risk of fraud.

The draft circular requires PSPs to limit the frequency and velocity of transactions into OGTAs per day — a maximum of 20% of the average daily balance of the transaction account, and a maximum six-hour transaction window.

It sets a “cooling off” period, which will only allow users to transfer funds from their wallets to OGTAs 24 hours after the limits have been met. There should also be an option to disable OGTAs for a desired number of weeks.

Payment service providers will be mandated to have pop-up alerts for account owners determined to be with heavy usage, including the risks of online gambling and reminders on responsible gaming. These will also be periodically released to other users.

Online gambling payment services will be given a six-month period to secure the necessary authority from the BSP and to comply with the other requirements set in the draft circular.

“(I)t is imperative to ensure that digital payment services of payment service providers are not misused for activities that are socially harmful and detrimental to financial health,” the draft circular read.

“These regulations establish standards and expectations for PSPs in the provision of online gambling payment services as well as set the enhanced know-your-customer measures to uphold applicable legal prohibitions on access to and participation in online gambling,” it added.

For violations, the draft circular will penalize PSPs up to P100,000 per calendar day for violations of a continuing nature, and a maximum of P1 million for each transactional violation.

Non-monetary penalties also include suspension of the authority to offer online gambling payment services for the first offense, and the revocation of authority and the suspension of authority to settle through the Philippine Payment and Settlements System for the second offense.

The BSP has given stakeholders until July 25, 2025 to give their feedback on the draft circular.

“The circular would seek to require BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs), primarily banks and electronic money issuers, to better protect users of their digital platforms from these risks. Protection may come in the form of various limits to gaming access,” the BSP said earlier this month.

“The BSP is 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,” it added.

To recall, the BSP in 2021 issued a directive that prohibited regulated entities from dealing with unlicensed gambling operators. It also ordered e-wallets and other BSIs to remove links to electronic sabong or e-sabong from their platforms in 2022.

A number of measures seeking to impose strict regulations on online gambling are pending in Congress, including one filed by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian which would ban the use of an e-wallet for online gambling, and increase the minimum age from 18 to 21.

For its part, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. said it is the prerogative of lawmakers to propose laws which they think would be beneficial to the public.

“PAGCOR is duty-bound to follow any and all relevant regulations once they are passed by Congress and signed into law by the President,” it said earlier this month.

“In the meantime, rest assured that PAGCOR remains fully committed to intensifying its efforts in the ongoing battle against the proliferation of illegal online gaming activities, together with like-minded agencies and organizations and with the support of all gaming industry stakeholders,” it added.

It has also ordered the dismantling of all billboards and out-of-home gambling advertisements by August 15, 2025.

Malacañang last month said the government has shut down 7,000 unauthorized gaming websites, citing concerns related to online gaming addiction. —AOL, GMA Integrated News