Evolution shares fall after Philippine partner loses license

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2025/05/19: Philippine regulator shares warning on fake gaming contracts 2025/08/21: Philippine online gambling transactions fall 50% after e-wallet restrictions 2025/09/17: Philippine lawmakers demand explanation after Meta failed to attend Senate gambling hearing 2025/09/17: PAGCOR reports 50% income fall after removal of e-wallet payment links

The Backstory

How the pressure campaign gathered force

Philippine regulators began tightening the screws on online gambling months before the latest flashpoint. The central bank’s Aug. 14 directive ordering e-wallets to sever in-app access to betting sites set the tone for a broader crackdown that regulators framed as consumer protection and anti-money laundering. Within 48 hours of the order, the gambling regulator reported that online transaction volumes fell by 50%, a steep drop that underscored how dependent operators had become on digital payments. Lawmakers seized on that leverage, pressing agencies and platforms to sustain the squeeze.

The decisive turn has spilled into other fronts. Regulators and senators stepped up scrutiny of social media companies, ad channels and cross-border operators, arguing enforcement must meet players where they already are. Industry players, from suppliers to venue operators, have been jolted as the government pairs payment friction with compliance checks and takedowns. The result is a fast-moving policy environment that rewards firms with stronger controls and exposes gaps across the ecosystem, from identity verification to marketing practices.

The campaign’s breadth now stretches from payments to advertising to licensing, with regulators signaling more tools are coming as they try to keep pace with agile, offshore outfits that change names and domains to evade blocks.

Payments squeeze reshaped the market overnight

The e-wallet delinking was the most immediate shock. The gambling regulator told lawmakers that online betting transactions plunged by half between a Sunday and a Monday after the central bank order took effect, signaling how quickly payment friction can curb play. That initial drop is detailed in the regulator’s briefing on the 50% decline in online gaming transactions. The agency later quantified the hit to public coffers, saying its own income fell by 40% to 50% in the first two weeks after links were severed, according to testimony summarized in a separate account of the regulator’s income slide following the delinking.

The speed of the drop sharpened debate on whether to ban or tighten. The central bank deferred to Congress on the policy choice, while senators urged regulators and payments firms to close loopholes. Operators quickly pivoted to alternative channels, routing payments through e-commerce and messaging apps. That workaround drew a swift response from lawmakers who argued that delinking must be comprehensive to be effective and to keep youth and low-income users from harm.

The payments front remains the fulcrum of enforcement, with fresh calls to expand monitoring beyond the largest wallets and to make bank rails the default for gambling transactions, which would add friction and enhance traceability.

Lawmakers push platforms and apps to do more

As operators shifted to new channels, lawmakers broadened the fight to tech platforms. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian pressed the regulator, the central bank and other agencies to ensure gambling sites are “fully and permanently” disconnected from all e-wallet services and to crack down on workarounds through messaging and shopping apps. He cited reports of betting activity surfacing on Viber, Telegram and Lazada, according to a summary of his remarks in the piece on the call for stricter enforcement of the e-wallet directive. Senator Erwin Tulfo, who chairs a key Senate committee, floated restricting payments to banks to raise the bar for access.

The committee’s focus widened to social media. Senators moved to compel a Meta representative to explain the company’s absence from a hearing on gambling ads, issuing a show cause order and threatening a subpoena. The move highlighted friction between local enforcement efforts and global platform governance, as outlined in the report on lawmakers demanding an explanation from Meta. Regulators say ad channels are a force multiplier for illegal sites that target Filipinos from abroad, making platform cooperation pivotal to any durable solution.

Pressure on platforms is likely to intensify as agencies roll out new detection tools and coordinate takedowns, and as lawmakers test whether hearings and orders can translate into sustained policy compliance.

Compliance failures ripple into licensed operations

The tightening net is also reaching regulated firms. The regulator revoked One Visaya Gaming’s gaming system administrator license for know-your-customer violations while allowing the company to keep a separate venue license tied to a live studio run with Sweden’s Evolution. The decision, which left the studio operational but shuttered One Visaya’s Bigwin29 site by Oct. 8, rattled the market and sent Evolution shares down nearly 6% before paring losses, according to the account of Evolution’s decline after its Philippine partner lost a license.

The episode illustrates how B2C controls can bite even when B2B operations are structurally separate. It also shows the regulator’s targeted approach: cut off consumer-facing sites that fall short on KYC while preserving jobs and infrastructure in compliant studio operations. For international suppliers, the message is clear. Local partners must maintain robust identity checks or risk sudden disruption that can bleed into investor sentiment and future licensing prospects.

As oversight tightens, suppliers and venue operators face higher compliance costs and reputational risk. The calculus for market entry now includes a sharper assessment of partner diligence, given how quickly enforcement actions can spill over into trading and brand exposure.

Fraud, offshore bans and the cat-and-mouse reality

Beyond licensed operators, regulators are chasing a fluid universe of offshore and fraudulent schemes. The regulator warned residents about fake gaming contracts linked to a legitimate venue operator, Lucky 7 Bingo Corporation, noting that references to an offshore license were bogus because all offshore gaming has been banned in the Philippines since Dec. 31, 2024. The alert, which urged due diligence before making payments, is detailed in the notice on fake gaming contracts tied to a fraudulent overseas operation.

Officials say the scale of illicit activity remains large. More than 60% of sites targeting Filipinos operate illegally from abroad. The regulator’s enforcement unit fields about 2,000 complaints a month, over 60% tied to unlicensed operators, and it reports thousands of domain takedowns. Yet operators often reappear under slightly altered names, a pattern captured in testimony featured in the piece on the post-delinking transaction drop. The persistence of these networks is driving investment in new technology and interagency coordination.

The regulator plans to deploy an AI-powered tool to spot illegal sites in real time and to work with the cybercrime agency and telecom regulators on rapid blocks, according to its account of the income impact and enforcement upgrades. The aim is to reduce the whack-a-mole dynamic by accelerating detection and response across jurisdictions.

What’s at stake for industry and policy

The Philippines is trying to thread a needle: curb harm and illicit activity without detonating a regulated market that delivers jobs and tax revenue. Regulators have rejected a blanket ban in favor of stricter rules, but the early data show enforcement can suppress both illegal play and legitimate receipts. That trade-off will shape the next phase of policy, as senators weigh whether to harden restrictions on payments, ads and onboarding or to refine a risk-based regime that keeps legal channels open while choking off abuse.

Industry alliances are positioning to influence that outcome. In July, a group of accredited operators formed the PlaySafe Alliance to promote responsible gaming, regulatory integrity and player protection, as noted in the report on operators backing stricter enforcement alongside safeguards. Their case rests on the idea that clear, enforceable rules can crowd out illegal rivals while preserving investment. The counterweight is visible in market shocks like the Evolution partner case and the regulator’s income slide.

As the payments squeeze persists and platform scrutiny grows, the Philippines will test whether targeted enforcement can be scaled without collateral damage. For operators, the calculus is simple. Stronger KYC, cleaner marketing pipelines and redundancy in payment and compliance systems have become prerequisites for staying in the game.