NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Clearing banks in The Bahamas are already flagging and restricting online gaming transactions as high-risk activity, according to Clearing Banks Association Chairman Gowon Bowe, who also questioning the Gaming Board’s regulatory authority over foreign-based online gambling operators.
Bowe said most financial institutions in the country automatically classify online gaming as a restricted merchant category, with transactions being identified and blocked through monitoring systems.
“Online gaming in its form is a merchant category that for all banks will be designated as high-risk,” Bowe said.
He explained that while customers may initially be able to use debit and credit cards for such transactions, the activity is typically flagged after a few uses.
“Customers may have been able to use debit and credit cards and I’m gonna say initial transactions before it has been identified and flagged,” he said. “But typically you will find those customers suck in their teeth because it will no longer go through after a few transactions because it has been flagged by the automated systems.”
Bowe added that any significant inflows linked to online gaming winnings would also trigger compliance checks and potential rejection by banks.
“As it relates to monies being remitted into accounts which may be proceeds from winnings… if the volume and dollar amounts do not trigger any extra extended monitoring then they may continue to take place,” he said. “But any material amounts coming in would actually trigger ultimately a request for source of funds and if those source of funds indicate that it is through online gaming, etc., most financial institutions… will be denying those proceeds from coming in.”
Bowe also questioned the scope of the Gaming Board’s authority over offshore operators, noting that regulatory jurisdiction does not extend to foreign-based entities.
“If these operations are established outside of The Bahamas, the Gaming Board doesn’t have any regulatory authority over them,” he said.
He suggested that any enforcement action requiring banks to block transactions would need to be coordinated through the Central Bank rather than issued directly by the Gaming Board.
“I think it would have to be through the Central Bank where the Gaming Board would have to liaise with the Central Bank,” Bowe said. “But a direct directive or guidance to banks that these must be rejected I think would be an overreach.”
He added, however, that most domestic financial institutions already restrict the activity in practice once it is identified, noting that the he has not seen any correspondence from the Gaming Board on the issue.
“Certainly once identified as an online merchant category both with funds going out and funds coming in… most of the domestic financial institutions… would prohibit it.”
Bowe’s remarks come amid reports that the Gaming Board has moved against at least 13 offshore gambling operators over concerns that unlicensed companies are continuing to conduct business in The Bahamas, including facilitating wagers and payouts through locally issued bank cards.
The action follows questions over how Bahamian customers are able to fund betting accounts, place online wagers and receive winnings through offshore platforms operating outside the country’s regulated gaming framework. Industry sources say UK-based betting giant Bet365 remains accessible to Bahamian users despite not holding a local gaming licence. The Gaming Board has yet to comment on the matter.
