Indonesia Directs Banks to Block 39,923 Suspected Gambling Accounts and Expand Customer Reviews

Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority has instructed commercial banks to block 39,923 accounts suspected of links to illegal online gambling. The latest count reflects an increase of 1,127 accounts since early October 2026, when the total stood at 38,796.

The regulator has also required banks to apply enhanced due diligence to customers associated with suspected gambling transactions and to examine other accounts tied to the same National Identity Number.

Banking Obligations Extend to Linked Accounts and Risk Profiles

Dian Ediana Rae, chief executive of Banking Supervision at the Financial Services Authority, said the regulator has also ordered banks to apply enhanced due diligence to customers associated with suspected gambling transactions. “The OJK has instructed banks to perform enhanced due diligence,” Dian said, as reported by Antara News.

Under the directive, banks cannot stop at a single frozen account. They must trace connections via national identification data and block additional accounts where appropriate. The measures target the ability of illegal operators to rotate activity across multiple accounts registered to one identity. Enhanced reviews also demand closer monitoring of transaction patterns among higher-risk customers.

Multi-Agency Effort Combines Financial Blocks With Content Removal

The banking action forms one element of a coordinated campaign involving Bank Indonesia, the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, and the Indonesian National Police. Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Nezar Patria said on November 4 that agencies need to coordinate their work to cut those payment pathways.

Police data showed online gambling operations handled an estimated Rp86.8 trillion (approximately US$4.79 billion) in the first half of 2026. Separately, authorities removed or restricted approximately 4.03 million gambling-related content items between October 20, 2024, and September 11, 2026. That volume formed part of 5.15 million items of negative online content addressed in the same period.

Regulators continue to treat payment access and digital visibility as linked enforcement priorities. The latest account blocks and due-diligence rules signal that financial institutions will bear heavier compliance burdens as authorities seek to limit illegal operators’ operational resilience.