Pay4Fun receives authorization from the Central Bank

Created in 2018, Pay4Fun, which hit R$500 million in financial transactions in July last year, believes in the growth of the online betting industry. In the year in which the regulation of sports betting is under debate – the regulation of Law 13.756/2018 that legalized sports betting in Brazil is awaiting presidential sanction – the leading digital payment platform, Pay4Fun, has just received authorization from the Central Bank to operate as a financial payment institution in this segment.

For Leonardo Baptista, CEO of the company, this is yet another confirmation of the solidity and security of the Brazilian online gaming industry. Founded by Baptista, owner of an experienced curriculum in the digital games and website security segment, Pay4Fun differentiates itself as a payment platform specialized in the area of ​​online entertainment.

“We were born with a focus on the online betting segment and today, of the more than 500 thousand customers, 90% of them are online players”, says Baptista. “Our main guidelines are transparency and security, which is why we have developed strict compliance and digital security criteria to prevent money laundering. Every operation within Pay4Fun goes through the verification of the origin and destination of the money transacted”, he adds.

The group works with the most relevant entertainment players, with more than 300 sites integrated in the online betting segment, such as 1XBet, 888, Betfair, Betsson, Pinnacle, Pokerstars among other giants in the sector, and has in its portfolio innovative products – Pay4Fun Store and Pay4Fun Card Mastercard, Pay4Fun App and Pay4Fun GO (direct payment gateway, with PIX, bank transfers and boleto).

Last year, Pay4Fun handled more than BRL 1.1 billion and the expectation for 2022 is to hit the BRL 3 billion mark. “Our idea is to expand with new partner sites, since in Brazil there are more than 500 sites, not counting the ones that should arrive after the regulation of the law”, says Baptista.

Online betting market: challenges and projections

The factor that connects the company’s growth expectations in relation to the online betting industry is the profile of its national clientele, which, like the company, expects the regulation of betting sites to enjoy quality, trust and technology. According to a survey by Marketing Esportivo, in 2020 the Brazilian betting sector reached a volume of 7 billion reais.

According to the company, the market grew by R$ 5 billion in two years. A study by Google Trends Brazil shows that the search for words such as; “bet”, “bet” and “bet+bet” more than doubled in January 2021 compared to the previous year. In addition to the pandemic, which kept the population in isolation and contributed to the search for online entertainment, another element that leveraged the expansion of demand is related to the greater visibility of sports betting in advertising.

Today, the betting market has surpassed the financial sector and is the biggest sponsor of Brazilian football clubs, being responsible for moving 30% of online betting profit in 2020, according to a study by Grand View Research. About 34 of the top 40 clubs in Brazil are sponsored by bookmakers.

“There is no doubt that the sports betting segment will continue to grow. How much it will grow, with what quality and in what way, will depend, above all, on the process of evolution of regulation in the spaces of power, an issue that has caused much speculation and expectations”, says Leonardo Baptista.

It is estimated that online betting, which currently moves around BRL 60 billion annually, will exceed BRL 100 billion a year as soon as it is regulated, formalizing thousands of unregulated gambling jobs and creating more than 100,000 jobs. , according to a study by the Instituto do Jogo Legal (IJL).

“Even without government regulation, the sports betting market has shown enormous strength in meeting the expectation of demand from Brazilians for this modality. The sector organized itself with competence to advance, even without the presence of the State”, explains the president of Instituto Jogo Legal, Magnho José.

“The fact that Pay4Fun – a genuinely Brazilian and Brazilian company – has obtained recognition from the main players and the Central Bank is historic, as we have always known about the conflicting relationship between the Government and gaming operations. In addition, the authorization of Bacen guarantees legal certainty for users who use the platform as a daily means of payment for their bets”, he concludes.