The Brazilian payments industry is stepping up its role in the country’s emerging betting sector, with several companies joining a new integrity protection initiative.
Bazk, Z.ro Bank, OneKey Payments, OKTO, VPag and Pay4Fun have been confirmed as new members of a ‘Payment Provider Forum’ set up by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA).
The IBIA is an international association of bookmakers which focuses on protecting sports integrity and countering match manipulation. Ahead of Brazil launching a nationwide regulated betting market on 1 January this year, the association has focused a lot of its attention on South America’s largest country.
“Cooperation between financial services, regulatory authorities and betting operators is essential to address the challenges from financial fraud and to maximise the potential of the sector in Brazil,” said Khalid Ali, CEO of the IBIA.
“IBIA is therefore delighted that these major payment institutions have agreed to explore collaborative activities to protect the market. Working together, we can create a sustainable and thriving sports betting market in Brazil that benefits all stakeholders.
“Cross-sector partnership working is a central pillar of IBIA’s global activity, and the association will be assessing the potential benefits of replicating this group in a wider international setting.”
Brazil is home to an extensive payments sector, with both domestic homegrown firms and international companies active in the local industry. With the onset of a nationwide betting market, set to generate high volumes, local and international payments firms have become interested in the opportunities.
The country’s regulatory framework has some unique payments stipulations, however. Cash, crypto and both debit and credit card payments are not permitted for betting – all betting transactions must be conducted via PIx, the Central Bank of Brazil’s instant payments method.
Tapping into Pix is therefore an essential step for both betting firms and payments providers interested in this new market. This was underscored by Ludiara Sousa, Head of Payments at Brazilian betting firm Blaze, who spoke to Payment Expert abahead of her appearance at the Payment Expert Summit in Rio next week.
“Pix offers several key advantages for betting and gaming firms in Brazil,” he said. “First, by linking transactions to a player’s CPF it ensures compliance with Brazilian regulations and prevents third-party payments.
“This connection also significantly reduces the risk of fraud by verifying individual identities. Additionally, Pix has a low chargeback rate, which minimises financial risks and enhances profitability for firms.”
To facilitate better connections between betting and payments in Brazil, the IBIA states that it will share its members’ knowledge of sports betting integrity issues and trends obtained from its global integrity monitoring and data intelligence network.
The association added that “payment providers and other related financial services can also play a crucial role in ensuring the integrity of sports betting”.
