Art, business and gambling

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is on a roll, achieving significant progress in hitting its inflation target, with the July inflation figure slowing down from 1.4 percent in June to 0.9 percent in July, firmly within the BSP's forecast range of 0.5 to 1.3 percent for the month.

- MARIANNE GO

This brings the average inflation for the first seven months of the year to 1.7 percent, below the government's inflation target range for the year of two to four percent. And if the US Federal Reserve finally pulls the trigger on lowering its own interest rates, the BSP can confidently stay on its low interest rate regime.

While concern about online gambling grows after President Marcos noticeably avoided issuing a policy statement on the matter, the BSP decided to wade into the tricky revenue earner for the government.

In a statement, the BSP announced that it is taking action to protect financial consumers from the risks associated with online gambling. The BSP is finalizing new rules that will require banks, e-wallets and other financial service providers to adopt stronger safeguards against gambling-related harm.

Business Snippets gathered from industry sources that local telcos also earn millions from the gambling platforms that use their facilities.

The upcoming measures will include strict identity verification, including biometric checks such as facial recognition, to ensure only eligible individuals can use their funds for online gambling.

It will also put daily limits on gambling-related transfers to reduce excessive financial losses and time-based restrictions on gambling payments to help curb impulsive behavior.

Additionally, it wants user tools for setting personal spending caps, taking voluntary breaks, or self-excluding from gambling transactions.

Such safeguards, according to the BSP, aim to reduce the risks of addiction, fraud and financial harm while promoting the responsible use of digital financial services.