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Philippine authorities have closed more than 8,000 merchant accounts after finding online casino payments routed through businesses presented as salons, bakeries and small stores.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas identified unusual payment patterns, including thousands of transactions as low as PHP50, around $0.80, arriving after midnight when many of the listed businesses would normally be closed. Authorities later linked some payments to unlicensed online gambling.
Good to Know
- More than 8,000 merchant accounts have been closed over alleged unlawful activity.
- BSP wants payment companies to collect ownership details, licences and clearer merchant information.
- PAGCOR plans to launch an app before the end of 2026 that helps players identify licensed online gaming sites.
BSP Targets Hidden Online Casino Payment Routes
BSP now wants payment providers to identify who ultimately receives money instead of relying only on the business name attached to an account.
The draft rules would restrict arrangements that obscure merchants, beneficiaries, settlement accounts or payment routes. Casino and wagering operators would also face enhanced due diligence and monitoring, with direct merchant arrangements preferred over structures involving layers of intermediaries.
“We want to protect consumers from online fraud, illegal activities and also from money launderers,” BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan said.
“You cannot expand digitalisation if people’s money is being stolen” or they are “being scammed.”
Repeated failures could eventually cost payment companies their licences.
“If there are illegal activities and you’re not able to stop it, then you are accountable,” Tangonan said.
The tighter controls matter beyond gambling. Digital payments accounted for around two thirds of Philippine retail transactions in 2025, compared with 57% in 2024 and roughly 10% in 2018. BSP therefore faces the task of expanding digital payments while improving fraud and money laundering controls.
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said the regulator knows some businesses with ordinary names are actually unregistered online casinos.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have control over that,” Tengco said.
PAGCOR is working with BSP and plans to launch a player app before the end of 2026. The app will direct users toward licensed and regulated gaming platforms. PAGCOR already operates the PAGCOR Guarantee website, which allows players to verify approved online gaming operators.
The EMoney Association of the Philippines backed stronger payment controls.
“It is important that there is accountability from the industry to ensure that we have a safe digital ecosystem for the market,” a representative said.
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