Jakarta – The existence of bank accounts used for online gambling activities continues to be a concern. As of May 2025, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) noted that around 17,000 accounts had been blocked due to indications of involvement in this illegal practice. This number increased by around 20% compared to the previous month which recorded 14,117 accounts.
Although the growth has started to slow down, as of April 2025 the spike had reached 40.94%. Seeing the continuing trend, OJK is currently reviewing new regulations to strengthen supervision of financial transactions related to online gambling.
OJK’s Chief Executive of Banking Supervision, Dian Ediana Rae, assessed that blocking steps alone are not enough. The importance of systemic improvements, including in terms of the supervision parameters used by each bank. Several banks face challenges in terms of funds, systems, and capabilities in adjusting supervision of suspicious transactions
“So far, the parameters used between banks have not been uniform. In fact, preventive measures can only be carried out effectively if there are common standards,” said Dian.
On a different occasion, OK Bank’s Compliance Director, Efdinal Alamsyah, revealed that online gambling methods are increasingly sophisticated. He gave examples of the use of loan accounts and hidden transaction patterns that make it difficult for early detection systems to catch these illegal activities.
“Inactive accounts that suddenly become active also have the potential to escape supervision,” he said.
According to him, it is time for the OJK to issue more detailed and adaptive regulations. He suggested that the new regulations include red flag standards for suspicious transactions, the obligation to re-verify dormant accounts, and a legal umbrella for banks to be able to block them preventively.
“Banks need to be protected so that they can carry out their supervisory functions optimally,” he added.
In the same vein, the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Payment System Association (ASPI) and Director of BCA, Santoso Liem, emphasized the importance of uniform criteria in detecting problematic accounts. He highlighted the differences in approaches used by banks, from account level to customer level.
“It would be more effective if research was conducted to ensure that the criteria are truly sharp in detecting judol activities,” he said.
Santoso believes that targeted regulations will greatly assist the banking industry in carrying out its supervisory function and supporting efforts to eradicate online gambling as a whole. OJK is expected to immediately complete the study of the regulation in order to create a clean, safe, and illegal practice-free financial system.
