GCash, Maya and online gambling: what the BSP order changed

E-wallets are a common way Filipinos move money, so rules about gambling matter for players. This page records only what we could verify and flags what we could not. You must be 21+ to gamble.

What happened in August 2025

• On 14 August 2025 the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered BSP-supervised institutions, including e-wallets, to remove in-app links and icons that redirect to online gambling platforms, with a 48-hour deadline. GCash and Maya committed to comply (Philstar).
• GCash said it would suspend gambling access through its GLife feature by 16 August (Philstar).
• The reports say consumers were given time to withdraw funds from online gaming accounts before access was cut off.
• Maya said it would disable access to gaming sites and apps through its Games feature at 8 PM on Saturday, 16 August 2025. Until then users could move remaining funds from linked gaming accounts back to their Maya Wallet; after it, they had to withdraw directly through the gaming provider's website or app (FinTech News Philippines).

What may come next

The BSP circulated a draft in July 2025 that would require a separate online gambling account with daily limits; we could not confirm it is in force. See the OGTA draft explained. In 2026 GCash announced that it had blocked more than 3,200 merchants tied to illegal gambling since 2025 (QR and fake page scams).

Has PAGCOR asked for the links to come back?

In January 2026 PAGCOR chairman Alejandro Tengco told Inside Asian Gaming that PAGCOR was preparing a position paper for the BSP arguing for the delinking to be reversed, describing the safeguards added since the 2025 Senate hearings and hoping to "allow linking once again of the payment providers to the eGaming operators" (Complete iGaming, 21 Jan 2026). In August 2026 he told a congressional budget hearing that gaming activity had a downtrend of about 40% after the delinking (Philstar, 25 Aug 2026). We found no report of the BSP reversing its order, so assume e-wallet links stay removed and check each operator's cashier.

What we could not confirm

• Whether the BSP has since finalised its guidelines for online gambling payments. We found no confirmation of a final circular (see the draft described in the OGTA explainer).
• Penalty amounts: one headline mentions fines, but we did not verify them in a primary source, so we do not state them.
• Whether any specific operator accepts a specific e-wallet today. That changes; check the operator's cashier.

What players can do

• Rely on the operator's current cashier and the wallet provider's announcements, not old reviews.
• Never send money to a personal account or an "agent". See our scam guide.
• Confirm the site is authorised first: how to check a PAGCOR licence.
• Read the deposits and withdrawals guide and set a deposit limit.

Update log

• 2026-10-27: Rewritten with sourced facts on the August 2025 BSP order.
• 2026-10-27: Added PAGCOR's January 2026 position-paper plan and the August 2026 activity figure; no BSP reversal found.