E-wallet link ban cuts gambling by 50%, illegal sites pick up

MANILA, Philippines — Did online gambling take a hit after the central bank ordered e-wallet platforms to remove in-app links to online gambling sites? 

Early signs from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) suggest so, with the agency reporting a 50% drop in online gaming transactions from August 17 to 19. Actual figures and long-term trends, however, remain to be seen.

During a House briefing on Wednesday, August 20, PAGCOR Chair and CEO Alejandro Tengco told lawmakers that the regulator has been coordinating with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in recent meetings on digital payment platforms, as the central bank drafts stricter regulatory guidelines.

“Inoobserbahan ng PAGCOR, … magsimula po nung araw ng Linggo hanggang kahapon, bumagsak po nang siguro 50% ang online gaming transactions magsimula nung inutos ng Bangko Sentral mag-delink muna ang e-payment platforms na ito sa integration sa online gambling,” Tengco said. 

(PAGCOR observed that, from Sunday until yesterday, online gaming transactions fell by about 50 percent after the Bangko Sentral ordered these e-payment platforms to temporarily delink from online gambling integration.)

This is just three days after digital payment platforms complied with the BSP’s memorandum directing financial institutions under its supervision to take down in-app or in-website icons and links to online gambling platforms before August 17. 

Among the e-wallet applications that have publicly committed and complied with the directive include GCash and Maya. 

However, the BSP’s order does not require online gambling platforms to remove links to e-wallets within their apps and websites. This means players can still cash in for online gaming, but not directly through e-wallet applications.

PAGCOR’s limits on stopping illegal gambling

Tengco argued that the real issue lies not with regulated online gambling or e-wallet platforms but with foreign-based illegal operators preying on Filipino users.

He said that some 60% of online gambling operators in the country are unlicensed, which they have no power to regulate or penalize. 

All PAGCOR could do is report these illegal gaming operators to law enforcement agencies and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). 

He said that over 8,000 of the 11,800 illegal online gambling operators that the regulator referred to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) have already been taken down. 

The problem, however, is that these enterprises simply change their name by adding a letter or number to continue operations. 

It is these unregistered platforms that are responsible for letting underage users, even those below 21, place bets, Tengco added. 

For the PAGCOR chief, a total ban would not be the best course of action, as unlicensed operators will always find ways to skirt around the rules. 

“Hindi ko po pwedeng ibaling ang sisi sa ating mga payment apps na yan dahil nagagamit ng mga iligal ang mga tinatawag na ‘mule merchant’ accounts na ‘yun,” he said.  

(I cannot pin the blame on our payment apps because these are being exploited by illegal operators through what are called ‘mule merchant’ accounts.)

Tengco explained that illegal operators manage to link themselves with licensed e-wallet platforms by posing as merchants to conceal their gambling activities. It creates an illusion that users are buying goods rather than cashing in funds to place bets. 

“Ang ginagawa ng mga iligal, hindi po lumalabas na ikaw ay nakapagsusugal. Ikaw ay bumibili sa isang merchant, pero ang totoo yung pagbili mo na ‘yun ay hindi para sa goods kundi para ikaw ay makapagsugal,” he said.  

(What the illegal operators do is make it seem like you’re not gambling. You appear to be buying from a merchant, but in reality, that purchase is not for goods but instead so you could gamble.)

Tengco appealed to Congress to strengthen PAGCOR's regulatory authority with stricter measures targeting illegal platforms instead of imposing an outright ban.

Legal gambling down, illegal up

His fears of players resorting to unlicensed platforms seem to carry some weight based on a recent survey revealing the effect of the BSP’s order on gambling participation. 

While research firm The Fourth Wall reported a 70% decline in online gambling participation among Filipinos in licensed sites after e-wallet platforms cut their in-app links, it also found a 40% increase in users turning to illegal or unregulated sites. 

In other words, the survey suggested that online gambling activity in the Philippines is not declining as it may appear; rather, players are only shifting to more accessible platforms. 

According to the poll firm, such migration to riskier platforms may stem from players’ reliance on e-wallets for gambling and their trust in these apps — leading them to assume that if e-wallets are available on unregulated sites, the platforms must be safe.

“Policy measures aimed at restricting access in legitimate payment channels such as e-wallets may unintentionally redirect players to riskier environments if trusted payment tools remain available there,” the Fourth Wall said in a statement on Wednesday. 

“This underlines the importance of addressing both access points and user perceptions when designing safeguards,” it added.  

The poll surveyed 1,250 active online gambling players in several urbanized areas across the country through a mix of online panels and in-person fieldwork after the delinking took effect. It has a margin of error of ±2% at a 95% confidence level.

Online gambling revenue. PAGCOR has reportedly earned P114.83 billion in gross revenues from the online gaming sector alone during the first half of 2025, accounting for over 53% of the P215 billion total gross gaming revenue posted.  

The gaming regulator is mandated by law to allocate a portion of its income to universal healthcare and other social services programs of the government.

Some lawmakers, however, contend that PAGCOR’s revenue contributions are not enough to outweigh the social costs of gambling in the country.