Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2022年6月 亞博匯 55 焦點關注 has risen. Though what the pawnshops have done cannot be 100% legal, since the crackdown there have been more people who take risks and operate in that “gray area” – taking money from underground banks and exchanging with gamblers. For example, if a gambler loses a lot of money and wants to get some cash back, he could use a pawnshop to swipe his cards, but since this service is banned, the gambler can only seek help from illegal money exchanges, which are more difficult to monitor than the pawnshops. Sometimes fake POS machines were used to defraud gamblers, and this caused more crime. IAG: With increasing capital control in China, is there less room for pawnshops? John: Actually, the whole gambling revenue is affected, not just the pawnshops. Ever 助，而換錢黨比當舖更難監管，且他們 會用一些假的POS機去騙錢，從而引起 更多的犯罪事件。 IAG：中國資金管制逐步收緊，是否亦令 當舖生存空間縮小？ John： 這個問題，是影響整個賭收，不 只是當舖。2019年開始，旅客入境量很 大，但賭收開始放緩，這已經說明了資 金管制的影響。 但事實上，很多當舖的老闆都很清 楚，刷卡套現是不能長久做下去，他們 透過刷卡套現賺到錢後，都會轉行從事 其他業務，有些成為了貴賓廳老闆，甚