The Philippine Central Bank has said that it is now seeking to implement rules that are meant to bolster security and enhance consumer protection when it comes to online gambling transactions.
Philippine Central Bank moves forward with new player protection rules
The new measures are also meant to preemptively cut off unregulated gambling websites from targeting consumers. While the bank is still thrashing out the details, among the new enforceable rules will be stronger safeguards that will be obligatory for all financial service providers.
Among the proposals are such measures as identity verification and daily limits, which will involve biometric checks, including facial recognition, to ensure that only eligible individuals are participating in any form of gambling in the country.
Apart from that, the financial institutions will now have to ensure that the individuals who sign up to gamble or wish to transact money that way are spending their own money and can afford to spend that money.
In light of this, the Central Bank is also looking to introduce daily limits on gambling in terms of transfer values, as well as having time-based restrictions for gambling transactions. A key focus of the agenda is to ensure that players also have freedom and control over their habits.
To this end, the bank is also going to push tools that allow players and consumers specifically to set their spending limits and self-exclude from the activity, or introduce mandatory breaks during their gambling sessions.
The goal set out by the Philippine Central Bank is self-evident – it wants to create an environment in which players are protected and have nothing to worry about. The initiative comes at a time when some parties in the Philippines have been calling for online gambling’s outright ban.
Introducing reliable measures to keep black market operations at bay
More pragmatic voices, including Casino Guru’s Matej Novota, have cautioned that banning an activity outright could only serve to worsen the situation and drive more players to the unprotected, unregulated, and unchecked offshore and black market.
Controversies such as the 34 missing cockfighters, though, do not help with the political capital that is needed to keep gambling on and running. However, the good news is that only a fraction of the Philippine population is actually considering a complete ban seriously.
The rest acknowledge the realities, such as they are – people will gamble, no matter who administers the activity.
