The president of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), Isaac Sidney, met with the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, and the Secretary of Awards and Betting, Regis Dudena, on Wednesday (2/10). During the meeting, he advocated for a temporary suspension of instant payment methods, such as Pix, for sports betting and online games.
“We are considering proposing to the government to create this task force for a reasonable period, so that it can delve deeper into the socioeconomic impacts of betting activities in Brazil. Meanwhile, that instant payment methods can be suspended for paying online bets. It is the time the government will deepen this diagnosis, deepen this examination,” explained Sidney, after the meeting.
The president of Febraban did not say whether Haddad will comply with the entity's request. Despite this, he felt that the head of the department and Secretary Dudena were with “much determination” to tackle this issue.
“They are determined to have a control ‘CPF by CPF’. They are determined to ensure that all the policy of prevention and laundering is implemented. They are very concerned about indebtedness, but it is not an issue that is resolved overnight,” emphasized the president.
Plan B
If the measure is not implemented by the Finance, Sidney acknowledged that there might be other ways to prevent the misuse of payments on betting sites, such as imposing transaction limits, as is currently the case with Pix, between 8 PM and 6 AM. Despite this, he reinforced that the most important thing is to ensure the purchasing power of Brazilians.
“The focus is to find ways to prevent the deterioration of the level of indebtedness of families. As studies today reveal that 90% of payments are made through the instant medium, we are defending that, temporarily, either it be suspended, or limits be imposed so that this indebtedness does not deteriorate,” he stated.
Source: Correio Braziliense