The largest commercial banks in Brazil would be interested in managing the financial accounts of bettors, according to what was published by the Panel, from Folha de S.Paulo. However, the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) denies any interest and states that there is concern about the level of indebtedness of families with bets.
Bets will start to operate under regulation in January and CEOs of major betting houses claim that they have already been approached by commercial directors of large banks interested in managing the financial accounts of bettors, an amount that, last year, moved R$ 120 billion.
The main idea, according to one of the CEOs heard by Panel S.A., is to intermediate the resources of the bettors' accounts in bets. According to the executives consulted, there is a possibility that these virtual accounts – and even the payment system via Pix – could be operated by a financial institution.
Banks could make more money with these resources, applying the volume daily in the market, in the same way as they do with the balances of the current accounts of their own clients.
Just to give an idea, a volume of R$ 10 billion per month yields about R$ 1 billion in an application corrected by the DI.
The banks, however, vehemently deny that they are interested in the business. "We are not aware of any intention or dealings of the banks with the bets to take over the financial portfolio", said in a note the president of Febraban, Isaac Sidney.
"We talked with the major institutions and they not only denied that they are moving in this direction, but also assured the inaccuracy of the news [interest in business with bets]".
According to the federation, the banks are concerned about the escalation of this betting market and the potential for over-indebtedness of families. Until now, bets were made via credit card – something that was barred by regulation – and this increased indebtedness.
In addition, and not least importantly, Febraban points out security issues: the guarantee that the "know your customer" policy will be complied with.
The banks will not associate with a business that, until now, also served to launder money and evade currency.
Source: Panel/Folha
