{"id":351,"date":"2019-10-22T13:31:53","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T13:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=351"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:17:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:17:48","slug":"china-online-gambling-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/china-online-gambling-crackdown","title":{"rendered":"China online gambling crackdown hits major credit card firm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>China\u2019s government police raid major credit card firm linked to online gambling, according to local media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>China.- Chinese media reported that around 100 police officers staged a raid on the Hangzhou offices of\u00a051 Credit Card. The Hong-Kong-Listed investment holding company claims to be China\u2019s largest credit card bill management service with over 83 million users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Media reports have cited a variety of reasons that may be behind the raid, including improper use of customer data. However, the\u00a0Sina\u00a0financial media outlet reported the raid was the result of allegations that the company was involved in processing payments for internationally licensed online gambling operators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lately, <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/crackdown-on-cryptocurrency-gambling-in-china\">China has ramped up its anti-online gambling<\/a><\/strong><\/em>; praising Cambodia\u2019s August announcement that the country would&nbsp;wind down its local online gambling operations&nbsp;by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>China has called on other nations to&nbsp;follow Cambodia\u2019s lead. It is now <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/2019\/10\/17\/malaysian-gambling-penalties\/\"><em><strong>increasingly partnering with other Asia-Pacific nations\u2019 law enforcement<\/strong><\/em><\/a> to&nbsp;target China-facing online gambling sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>China has also publicly declared its willingness to take stronger measures to combat so-called&nbsp;underground banking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, in March, China\u2019s central bank issued a statement warning its financial institutions to step up their merchant verification protocols. The idea was to ensure companies were not hiding payments to forbidden internet sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, news of the raid sent 51 Credit Card\u2019s share price down over one-third on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Shortly after, the company suspended its trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, the company made its HKSE debut in July 2018; Investors have had little reason to complain as the company posted double-digit profit gains this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China\u2019s government police raid major credit card firm linked to online gambling, according to local media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Chinese authorities raided 51 Credit Card, a Hong Kong-listed fintech, over allegations of processing payments for internationally licensed online gambling operators. This action aligns with China's intensified anti-online gambling campaign and efforts to combat underground banking, leading to a significant share price drop and trading suspension for the company. The incident underscores escalating regulatory scrutiny on financial institutions facilitating illicit cross-border transactions.","focusai_entities":"51 Credit Card, Sina, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China's central bank","focusai_location":"China, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Cambodia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.85), affiliate_publisher (0.7), tech_data (0.75), payments_fraud_aml (0.98), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Fintech Regulatory Impact","query":"What are the broader implications for other Chinese fintech companies and payment processors regarding enhanced regulatory scrutiny on cross-border transactions and illicit gambling linkages?"},{"label":"iGaming Payment Channels","query":"How will this intensified crackdown on payment facilitators in China impact the operational viability and payment channel strategies for internationally licensed iGaming operators targeting the Asia-Pacific market?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,16338,153],"tags":[227,229,757],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-east-asia-news","category-igaming-news","tag-china","tag-gambling","tag-online-casino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21159,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/21159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}