More Worrying, This Is A Step That Can Be Done To Save The Community From The Snare Of Online Gambling

JAKARTA - Online gambling is increasingly booming and is increasingly concerning. The latest data shows that there are 8.8 million Indonesians playing online gambling in 2024, as stated by the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs (Menkopolkam) Budi Gunawan. Sadly, there are 80,000 children under the age of 10 who are also suspected of being online gamblers.

In addition, the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro, revealed that there were many students and students involved in online gambling. "The number of students and students involved in online gambling to date is a total of 960,000," said Satryo at a press conference at the Jakarta Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) Office, Thursday (21/11).

On the other hand, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) until November 2024 has blocked approximately 10,000 bank accounts proven to be related to online gambling practices, including bank accounts belonging to players and developers of online gambling applications.

Data shows that the circulation of funds in online gambling is massive. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan also said that the total circulation of online gambling money in Indonesia had reached Rp900 trillion during the 2024 period. The magnitude of the total large circulation of money shows that the impact caused by online gambling is increasingly worrying.

Reporting from the University of Indonesia (UI) page, one of the initial factors that encouraged someone to do online gambling is psychological factors, such as curiosity. Starting from curiosity, after getting big money they start to become addicted and continue to increase their gambling capital. Apart from psychological factors, economic factors are also one of the strong factors for someone to be tempted to do online gambling.

Low financial literacy is still one of the main triggers for the phenomenon of the rise of online gambling. The government for the past few years has intensively invited financial service institutions to jointly make various efforts to increase the level of financial literacy of the Indonesian people.

Teachers in the Study Program (Prodi) of Financial Administration and Banking of the Vocational Education Program of the University of Indonesia (UI), Vindaniar Yuristamanda Putri, S.I.A., MM, said, "This financial literacy needs to be supported by all parties, including the government, academics, and local community leaders. The government as a policy maker should act quickly in eradicating this online gambling practice."

Neo Commerce (BNC) Bank, as a financial services institution in Indonesia, is committed to supporting the government in increasing financial literacy. President Director of PT Bank Neo Commerce Tbk, Eri Budiono, said that his party saw that online gambling was increasingly worrying because it ensnared millions of Indonesians, the majority of whom were of productive age.

"If left unchecked, online gambling can make the economy threatened because more people have the potential to be entangled in poverty. Financial literacy is important to protect the public from online gambling temptation. Collective efforts are needed to reach the widest possible reach of the community. In particular, BNC is actively carrying out financial literacy activities on an ongoing basis to support government programs and increase awareness of the dangers of online gambling," he said in an official broadcast received by VOI.

Therefore, Eri Budiono conveyed the importance of organizing various financial literacy activities both online and offline, by cooperating with various parties.

"Recently, this effort received appreciation from the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) which awarded BNC awards at the end of 2023 as the Most Active Bank in Financial Literacy Activities at the 2023 LPS Awards. In the future, BNC hopes to reach the wider community, including in various areas where people are vulnerable to online gambling," he said.

He invited various communities to expand their reach in providing financial-related education. Communities that participate are very diverse ranging from students, the lifestyle and music community, the automotive community, practitioners and the general public, as well as professionals such as pharmacists who participate in the Bali Pharmacy Festival 2022.

"It is hoped that the implementation of financial literacy activities can participate in supporting the government in improving the level of financial literacy of the Indonesian people. In the end, it can help reduce the rise of online gambling phenomena in the community, along with the increasing level of public financial literacy," concluded Eri.