The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ order to delink “materially affected the group’s operations by limiting player access to the primary payment and withdrawal channels historically used for online gaming activities.”
While this caused a temporary decline in transactions and usage, mitigating efforts were implemented.
“The group implemented several measures, including the onboarding of new payment partners, the expansion of direct bank integrations, and the enhancement of its proprietary payment gateway systems to ensure business continuity and customer accessibility,” DigiPlus said in its latest quarterly report released on Thursday.
DigiPlus eyes “operational independence”
“Following its delinking from third-party payment platforms such as GCash and Maya, DigiPlus aims to strengthen its proprietary ecosystem to ensure operational independence, enhance system reliability, and support sustainable growth,” DigiPlus said.
This will allow the firm to better serve its players, which stock brokerage house CLSA earlier estimated at 8.5 million monthly active users.
DigiPlus leans on physical network
“DigiPlus also continues to expand its physical network of flagship stores and entertainment hubs to complement its digital operations and provide integrated gaming and entertainment experiences to customers nationwide,” the company said in the report.
At the end of September, DigiPlus said there were 139 land-based sites in operation.
The regulatory crackdown pulled down third-quarter profits by nearly 60 percent to P1.7 billion, while revenues fell 23 percent to about P19 billion.
Since the BSP order took effect only in mid-August, DigiPlus still posted stronger nine-month results, with net income up 16 percent to P10.1 billion and revenues rising 30 percent.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
