Philippine Central Bank proposes stricter oversight of online gambling payments
BSP’s draft circular introduces enhanced safeguards for digital transactions.
The Philippines.- The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has published a draft circular outlining tighter controls over online gambling payment services. The proposed framework would require banks, e-wallets, and other payment service providers (PSPs) to implement new technical and operational standards before processing payments related to online gambling.
This includes the creation of a separate “Online Gambling Transaction Account” (OGTA) for each eligible user, capped at daily transfers equal to 20 per cent of the user’s average daily balance and subject to a maximum usage window of six hours per day. Exceeding these thresholds would trigger a 24-hour “cooling-off” period.
To open an OGTA, users would need to be at least 21 years old, not enrolled in any academic institution, not affiliated with the government or security forces, and not recipients of conditional cash transfer programs. Facial biometric verification and enhanced KYC procedures would be mandatory in onboarding.
PSPs would be required to disable lending features within the same app once an OGTA is activated. Financial institutions and their employees will be barred from participating in online gambling.
The BSP’s proposal also introduces in-app tools for responsible gambling, such as pop-up alerts, voluntary self-exclusion features, and customisable transaction limits. Advertisements related to online gambling would only be shown to users who have opted in.
Violations of the proposed guidelines could result in fines and non-monetary sanctions, including the suspension or revocation of a provider’s ability to offer online gambling payment services. Stakeholders have until July 25 to submit comments. Once finalised, the rules will come into effect 15 days after publication.
“This is about enhancing the safety of the digital finance environment without compromising its accessibility for licensed businesses,” the central bank said in a statement.
