Manila, Philippines — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is now seeking help from artificial intelligence (AI) to oversee the fast-growing online gambling industry, as announced by PAGCOR Chair Alejandro Tengco during a budget hearing before the House Committee on Appropriations.
Tengco said the AI-powered tool aims to improve the know-your-customer (KYC) protocols, detecting players at risk, and even help reduce fraud. With the strengthened KYC in place, PAGCOR will have better capability in detecting tampered IDs, thus preventing minors from registering on gambling platforms.
Furthermore, it can also track—in real time—thousands of behavioral data points. With AI, regulators can intervene early by identifying if an individual shows a sudden spike in betting, longer playing times, and frequent account depletion.
“AI-powered e-KYC tools have [been] shown to be very effective in detecting if an ID has been altered. Hopefully, with these new technologies, we can address concerns about fake registrations.
“What’s good about these tools is that once the AI detects troubling behavior, an automatic ‘cooling period’ can be imposed. The account is suspended, and the player can only resume once they provide valid reasons to the regulator,” Tengco explained.
Operators in countries like Australia have regulators using AI systems to send reminders if they discover players are not taking any breaks. Swedish regulators even have systems in place that automatically suspend accounts for gambling addicts and enroll them in self-exclusion programs.
Stakes are High
Amid the booming of the online gaming sector, pressure looms over PAGCOR as its data showed over 70 licensed online gambling platforms. These include sites like BingoPlus, ArenaPlus, and S5 Casino, which are now leaders in the local industry.
That said, a ₱60–62 billion 2025 revenue is expected—a roughly 62% of PAGCOR’s total income—a massive jump from the ₱6 billion in 2021.
However, this growth is not without its challenges. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently ordered e-wallet providers such as GCash and Maya to sever links to gambling platforms. This caused a 50% drop in online gaming transactions, affecting the performance of the operators.
Despite this, Tengco stands firm with the agency’s mandate:
“PAGCOR will take the lead in this effort. We are looking at these technologies, and we will be the ones to implement them.”
