Pagcor to launch app to help players spot licensed online casinos in the Philippines

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) plans to launch a mobile app before the end of 2026 to help users distinguish licensed online casinos from unregulated gambling sites. For PSPs and payment teams, the important bit is that Pagcor is explicitly tying the project to enforcement and to the payment channels used by unauthorised platforms.

1. Pagcor chairman and chief executive Alejandro H Tengco announced the app on Monday during a House budget hearing. The app will expand Pagcor’s existing verification system, Pagcor Guarantee, and is meant to do two things: reduce illegal online gambling activity and direct players to sites officially regulated and licensed by Pagcor.
2. Tengco said around 50% of online gaming sites accessed in the Philippines currently operate without proper licensing. That is the backdrop for the app: keeping players in the regulated sector has been difficult, and Pagcor is openly framing the issue as both a consumer protection problem and an enforcement problem.
3. Pagcor is working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC). The joint effort is not only about identifying unlicensed operators, but also about disrupting the financial mechanisms that support illegal gaming, especially payment channels used by unauthorised platforms.
4. The app will also include a formal dispute resolution mechanism for issues with licensed operators. Tengco pointed back to the June 2025 launch of Pagcor Guarantee, saying it already lets players check whether online gaming sites are duly licensed before they play or make payments.
5. The timing matters because Pagcor’s gross gaming revenue dropped 20.33% year on year in Q2. Tengco has also outlined broader regulatory plans, including further legislative approval for a comprehensive online gambling law, and an operator fee that came into practice in June of this year: Pagcor now requires a minimum guaranteed fee of PHP9 million monthly, based on revenue of PHP30 million at the 30% tax rate, for operators with online casino games, and a PHP3 million MGF based on the same structure for other operators.