GCash payment revenue fell 3.7% after the Philippines ordered gambling links removed from wallets

Mynt, the owner of Filipino e-wallet GCash, reported lower payment-service revenue in the first half of 2026 after the Philippines tightened access to online gambling through payment apps. For high-risk PSPs, the detail that matters is simple: when a wallet is forced to cut direct gaming flows, revenue and transaction volumes can move fast.

1. According to AP Securities, Mynt’s payment-services revenue in the first half of 2026 was PHP24.9 млрд ($396.6 million), down 3.7% year on year. Analysts linked the decline to restrictions on access to online gambling via payment applications.
2. In August 2025, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered supervised financial institutions, including e-wallets, to remove links to gambling platforms from their apps and websites within 48 hours. This is the kind of order that changes checkout design overnight, not quarter by quarter.
3. Starting on 16 August 2025, GCash disabled in-app cash-in and cash-out for licensed operators. Players now have to go directly to the operators’ websites, which removes the wallet as the front door for those transactions.
4. The effect showed up quickly. PAGCOR chairman Alejandro Tengco said online gaming transaction volume fell by about 50% from 17 to 19 August 2025. AP Securities said Mynt’s half-year report was the first to fully reflect the impact of the shutdown.
5. The pressure was not limited to the wallet side. DigiPlus, the owner of BingoPlus and ArenaPlus, said first-half 2026 revenue fell 31.2% to PHP32.85 billion ($523.3 million), and the company had already pointed to the loss of direct wallet access as one factor affecting user activity.