On April 16th, 2024 Brazil updated its regulations for financial transactions specifically related to betting operations. This guide explains the main points of these changes, focusing on what businesses need to know to stay compliant.
What’s New: The regulations set rules for handling payments linked to fixed quota betting (both online and physical locations) under Brazilian laws enacted in 2018 and 2023.
Payment Transactions
How Payments Should Be Made:
- All money transfers between bettors and betting operators need to happen through electronic transfers, using approved methods like PIX, TED, and debit cards.
- The rules specifically ban the use of cash, checks, cryptoassets, and credit cards for these transactions.
What Operators Can’t Do:
- Betting operators are not allowed to accept bets without receiving the transferred money first.
- They cannot offer any credits or bonuses to entice betting before payment is confirmed.
Managing the Transactional Account
A Transactional Account is an account managed by the betting operator used for managing money from bets. Now how is it managed?
Protecting Bettor’s Money:
- Money in the transactional accounts is protected by law. It cannot be used to pay off the betting operator’s debts.
- Betting operators can have more than one transactional account and must manage them in a way that always has enough money available to cover all bets.
Financial Management
Liquidity and Reserves:
- Betting operators need to have strategies in place to handle potential cash flow problems and must keep a reserve fund of at least R$ 5,000,000 to cover payments if they run into financial trouble.
- This reserve should be kept in secure investments like federal public securities.
Practical Takeaways:
For businesses involved in betting operations, these regulations require careful management of financial transactions to ensure full compliance. This involves:
- Strictly using approved methods for transferring money.
- Keeping bettor funds secure and separate from the operator’s own money.
- Maintaining enough reserve funds to handle payments even in difficult situations.
The updated regulations are designed to make betting operations safer and more transparent in Brazil. For businesses, understanding and following these rules is crucial for operating successfully and legally in the betting sector.
Centrobill has you covered by offering licensed PIX payments specifically tailored for the gambling sector. To learn more about PIX and its benefits, read our previous article.
