PAGCOR Gambling Earnings Slowdown as E-Wallet Delinking Hits Online Activity
- ACN Staff
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
PAGCOR expects its 2026 income to fall by double digits as e-wallet delinking and weaker consumer spending weigh on online gaming activity.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is expecting another year of lower income as reduced online gaming activity following the delinking of e-wallets from gambling platforms combines with broader economic pressures.
GMA News first reported on August 24, 2026 that PAGCOR expects total income to decline to ₱86.948 billion in 2026 from ₱106.031 billion in 2025. PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco told lawmakers that online gaming activity fell by around 40% after e-wallets were disconnected from online gaming platforms. (Source: GMA Network)
The slowdown comes as PAGCOR's gaming revenues have already weakened in 2026, with the regulator reporting a 20.33% year-on-year decline in industry gross gaming revenue (GGR) during the second quarter.
Why is PAGCOR income expected to decline in 2026?
PAGCOR Assistant Vice President Maria Cheryl De Guia said the agency's total income is projected to fall to ₱86.948 billion this year, compared with ₱106.031 billion in 2025. The current projection would represent a decline of about 18%. The agency expects income to recover modestly to ₱88.838 billion in 2027, according to figures presented during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on August 24.
The latest outlook follows a weaker first half for PAGCOR.
The regulator reported in July that its total revenues fell 26.64% in the first half of 2026, with lower gaming earnings weighing on its financial performance. The broader Philippine gaming market also recorded a decline in the second quarter. PAGCOR reported ₱88.13 billion in GGR from April to June 2026, down 20.33% from ₱110.63 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. (Source: PAGCOR “PH gaming industry down 20% in Q2 2026 to Php88.13B”)
How did the e-wallet delinking affect online gaming?
Tengco attributed a significant portion of the online gaming slowdown to the removal of direct links between e-wallets and online gambling platforms.
Speaking during the congressional hearing, he said gaming activity declined by around 40% after the delinking because customers could no longer make transactions through the previously integrated process as easily as before.
The policy originated with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which in August 2025 instructed BSP-supervised financial institutions to remove in-app gambling access from their mobile payment applications and websites.
Under BSP Memorandum No. M-2025-029, supervised institutions were instructed to remove links that redirected users to gaming or gambling websites within 48 hours of the memorandum's issuance. The central bank said the action followed concerns about the financial-health impact of increased online gambling transactions. (Source: BSP)
The measure effectively changed how customers accessed gambling platforms through e-wallet applications, although it did not amount to a blanket prohibition on using an e-wallet as a payment method for every online gambling transaction.
What does BSP's e-wallet policy mean for PAGCOR?
The e-wallet delinking policy represents a significant change for the regulated online gaming market because payment access had previously been integrated into digital financial platforms.
PAGCOR had already reported an immediate decline in online gambling transactions following the BSP order in 2025. The regulator subsequently said the mandatory delinking caused a short-term decline in E-Games activity during the latter part of the third quarter of 2025. (Source: PAGCOR https://www.pagcor.ph/insider/2025/november-2025.pdf)
The effect has continued to feature in discussions about the performance of the Philippine online gaming sector. At the same time, PAGCOR has maintained that regulated online gaming remains an important part of the country's gaming market and has emphasized stronger safeguards around the sector.
Middle East conflict adds pressure to PAGCOR gambling earnings
E-wallet restrictions are not the only factor affecting PAGCOR's outlook.
Tengco also attributed part of the weaker 2026 projection to the Middle East conflict, which he said had affected consumer spending, particularly among lower- and middle-income market segments.
PAGCOR had previously identified geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as a factor behind weaker gaming performance.
In its second-quarter industry report, the regulator said the decline in GGR was driven by weaker electronic gaming revenues as well as inflation and the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East, which affected discretionary consumer spending.
This means the current PAGCOR gambling earnings slowdown cannot be attributed exclusively to the BSP's e-wallet policy.
Has online gaming activity started to recover?
There are signs that the decline may be moderating.
Tengco told lawmakers that gaming activity increased by around 10% in July and remained at a similar level in August. He also pointed to an increase in tourists visiting integrated resorts as a positive development for land-based gaming.
PAGCOR's second-quarter data, however, show that the broader market remained under pressure during the April-to-June period.
Image Credit: PAGCOR
According to the financial report issued by PAGCOR on August 10, 2026, licensed casinos generated ₱45.37 billion, accounting for 51.49% of second-quarter GGR, while the electronic gaming sector, including E-Games, E-Bingo, bingo and poker, which generated ₱39.85 billion, or 45.21% of the total. PAGCOR-operated casinos contributed another ₱2.90 billion.
What does the slowdown mean for PAGCOR?
The weaker earnings outlook could affect PAGCOR's financial contribution to the government, while also highlighting the changing balance between land-based and online gaming in the Philippines.
Online gaming had become a major contributor to the country's gaming market, but regulatory changes affecting payment access have altered the way customers interact with licensed platforms.
The latest figures also demonstrate why PAGCOR's financial performance should be viewed alongside developments in online gaming regulation and payment infrastructure, rather than gaming demand alone.
For the regulator, the challenge is now to support a regulated market while implementing measures designed to address concerns around accessibility and responsible gambling.
PAGCOR expects possible recovery later in 2026
Despite the weaker outlook, Tengco said there are signs of improvement in both online and land-based activity.
He pointed to the traditional peak season for gaming and increasing tourism as potential factors that could help offset some of the weakness recorded during the first half of the year. PAGCOR's latest forecast nevertheless indicates that the agency does not expect its 2026 income to return to 2025 levels.
The projected ₱86.948 billion would remain below last year's ₱106.031 billion, even with the possibility of improved gaming activity toward the end of the year.
Key takeaways on the PAGCOR gambling earnings slowdown this 2026
PAGCOR's earnings outlook for 2026 reflects pressure from several directions, with the delinking of e-wallets from online gaming platforms emerging as a major factor in weaker online activity. The BSP's payment-access restrictions have changed how players interact with gambling platforms, while PAGCOR also points to the Middle East conflict and weaker consumer spending as contributors to the broader slowdown.
There are early signs of recovery in gaming activity, but PAGCOR currently expects its total income to remain below 2025 levels. The remainder of 2026 will therefore be important in determining whether the Philippine gaming market can regain some of the momentum seen in previous years.
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Sources
GMA News Online: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/999669/pagcor-income-falls-as-e-wallet-delinking-cuts-online-gaming-activity/story/
Manila Bulletin: "Tengco blames e-wallet delinking, Middle East crisis as Pagcor earnings take hit"
Fintech News Philippines: https://fintechnews.ph/67915/e-wallets/bsp-orders-e-wallets-to-remove-online-gambling-links/
PAGCOR
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas: https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Regulations/Issuances/2025/M-2025-029.pdf
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