Brazilian authorities have made the payments intricacies of the country’s regulated betting framework clearer, building on ban on credit card transactions.
The Secretariat of Betting and Prizes (SPA), the national regulator established to oversee the rollout of a legal betting market, has been tasked with developing four market ordinances.
These ordinances will cover payments, IT security, crime prevention and safer gambling duties, and are expected to be announced in July. On payments, betting terminals must be connected to an operator’s system and follow customer ID and transaction laws.
As stated above, this builds on the publication of the Payments Ordinance by Brazilian authorities last month. Under these rules, operators will not be able to accept deposits via cash, bank slips, cheques or cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, deposts, withdrawals and prize payments via electronic transfers. Winnings will need to be paid to customers within a 120-minute window following the end of the sporting event on which the bet was placed.
Launching a Brazilian national igaming market was on the agenda for the presidency of Lula da Silva since he assumed office in January 2023. A bill subsequently bounced around the lower and upper houses of the country’s Congress, with several amendments made by Deputies and Senators.
Market launch, expected later this year, will bring about significant opportunities for just for betting operators but also for payments and fintech firms. However, it is important to note that the Pix national instant payments system will likely account for the bulk of transactions.
In addition to payments, the SPA has also unveiled new ordinances around IT security, as noted above. The regulator is developing requirements around preliminary provisions, technical measures and the supervision of IT technology systems.
With Brazil market launch fast approaching, domestic and international operators are looking to match their planned operations in the country with the known and emerging regulatory requirements.
In an interview with Payment Expert prior to his appearance at the SBC Summit Rio, Martin Lycha, Entain’s SVP of Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gaming, discussed alignment with AML and KYC standards, for example.
