Hontiveros flags continued access for e-wallets’ cash-in, out in online gambling platforms

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday expressed concern that cash in and cash out transactions through e-wallets remain available within online gambling platforms despite earlier efforts to unlink or remove access to online games in e-wallets.

During the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement deliberations on proposals for more stringent regulation or outright ban on online gambling, Hontiveros raised alarm that cashing in and out through e-wallets for online gaming could go as high as P500,000.

“Sa online banking nga eh, lumampas ka lang, sumobra ka lang ng P50,000, hindi ka na makakapag-transfer. Pero dito po sa kanila, kalahating milyon pwedeng maglabas-masok sa pagsusugal,” the senator said.

(In online banking, once you exceed P50,000 you can no longer transfer funds. But for them [e-wallets], even as high as half-a-million pesos could come in and out for gambling.)

To recall, last month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) told the Senate panel that hat e-wallets were given 48 hours to take down icons and links to online gambling platforms. 

E-wallet service providers GCash and Maya later announced that they have complied with the deadline.

Despite the delinking efforts, Hontiveros asked BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan if cash in and out through e-wallets for purposes of gambling on online gaming platforms is still possible.

Tangonan explained that the order issued by the BSP was to remove all in-app links to online gambling sites in e-wallets but “with regards to the basic payment services because that is the online gambling operators as far as they are licensed, they are considered legitimate entities and so the purpose for which the top-ups are being used is for legitimate purpose and therefore there's no basis to deny that service, your honor.”

With this, Hontiveros asked e-wallets, GCash and Maya, if they are amenable to disallowing cash in and out transactions for online gambling purposes in their platforms.

“‘Pag mayroon pong regulasyon na ganyan, kami ay may susunod po sa kautusan ng ating gobyerno,” said GCash chief legal counsel Gilbert Escoto.

(If there is such a regulation, we will follow the directive of the government.)

Maya head of regulatory affairs Kristoffer Rada said, “We will comply with the directives… so if they issue something related to this, we will follow.”

For her part, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. vice president Jessa Fernandez said that the agency and the BSP are looking for other ways how online gaming bettors can cash in and out apart from e-wallets.

“Sa ngayon po kasi ito po ‘yung mga available and regulated well by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas... But these payment platforms po kaya po natin pinapayagan po ito because we see that they are regulated as well. And meron po silang mga safeguards para po maprotektahan din po natin yung consumers natin,” Fernandez said. —NB, GMA Integrated News