‘E-wallet unlinking may drive gamblers to riskier platforms’

MANILA, Philippines —  Online gambling players could shift to unregulated platforms following the disconnection of e-wallets from licensed gambling apps, a new study has found, raising concerns that the government’s clampdown could be pushing users toward riskier environments.

A study by sociocultural research firm The Fourth Wall showed that regulated gambling platforms saw a 70-percent drop in users after the Aug. 16 ban, while unregulated sites posted a 40-percent jump.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier ordered all e-wallets and financial institutions to cut ties with online gambling apps after a Senate hearing last week flagged the social and financial costs of online betting.

Major fintech players GCash and Maya confirmed they had disabled access to gaming apps in compliance with the directive.

The study, which surveyed over 1,000 active players in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao and other urban growth centers, found that the unlinking of e-wallets played a central role in player migration.

According to the report, players with high trust in e-wallets were 2.3 times more likely to move to unregulated platforms (42 percent of respondents) compared to those with low trust (18 percent). Players also assumed that the presence of e-wallets on unregulated sites meant these platforms were equally safe.

“Our latest study shows the central role e-wallets play in shaping online gambling behavior. When links to regulated platforms were removed, activity shifted toward unregulated platforms rather than declining overall, unintentionally redirecting players to riskier environments,” The Fourth Wall research director John Brylle Bae said.

The firm also noted that many players value e-wallet age verification and KYC (know-your-customer) checks, mistakenly believing that these safeguards extend to unregulated platforms.

Dependence on e-wallets for payments further accelerates the shift, with those viewing e-wallets as essential twice as likely to migrate to unregulated sites.

Unregulated platforms, the study warned, often operate without oversight from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., lack consumer protection mechanisms and promote riskier games with aggressive marketing, exposing users to fraud, spam and excessive losses.

GCash, the country’s largest e-wallet, reaffirmed its “Zero Tolerance” policy against illegal online gambling, warning the public against scams and fake accounts tied to illicit sites.

“Illegal online gambling undermines financial integrity and public welfare. GCash has no links to illegal gambling operators — anyone connecting our brand to these sites is either misrepresenting us or illegally using our platform,” G-Xchange Inc. president and CEO Oscar Enrico Reyes Jr. said.

GCash said it has already taken down over 57,000 phishing sites and reported 916 illegal gambling operators since 2023.

The firm reminded users to only scan QR codes from verified merchants, double-check payment details, and report suspicious activity through its Help Center or the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group.

Maya, for its part, said it had fully complied with the BSP directive and disabled access to gambling apps on Aug. 16.