Indonesia orders banks to shut down over 31,000 gambling-linked accounts as crackdown escalates

Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) has ordered banks to block 31,382 accounts suspected of facilitating illegal online gambling and to close other accounts tied to the same ID numbers, signalling a tougher, system-wide effort to cut betting networks off from the country’s financial system.

Indonesia has sharply stepped up its campaign against illegal online gambling by directing domestic banks to freeze 31,382 accounts identified as being linked to betting transactions in 2025, up from 30,392 previously flagged on the basis of data from the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi). At a press conference on 9 January, OJK’s Head of Banking Supervision, Dian Ediana Rae, said the measure is part of a broader push to protect consumers and safeguard economic stability from the impact of offshore gambling sites that rely on local banking channels.

Rae stressed that banks are not only required to block the 31,382 primary accounts but must also carry out deeper investigations to identify and close any other accounts held under the same National Identification Number (NIK). Institutions have been instructed to apply enhanced due diligence and strengthen transaction monitoring so that gambling networks cannot simply migrate to fresh accounts or exploit gaps between banks.

The new directive builds on earlier stages of OJK’s crackdown, which saw banks ordered to block more than 17,000 gambling-linked accounts in mid-2025 and around 25,912 accounts by August, before the latest total climbed above 31,000 by the end of the year. Regulators argue that this cumulative pressure is beginning to constrict cash flows to illegal operators while sending a warning to customers that lending or selling personal bank accounts for gambling use can trigger permanent closure and further investigation.

Despite the scale of enforcement, Rae underlined that Indonesia’s banking sector remains stable, noting that credit growth and liquidity indicators stayed solid through late 2025 even as institutions implemented the new blocking orders. For the gambling industry, the message is clear: Indonesian authorities intend to treat access to bank accounts as a frontline tool in their strategy against unlicensed online betting, with account-level scrutiny and coordinated action between OJK, Komdigi and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) becoming the norm rather than the exception.