GMB - What is your history within the gambling industry? How did you get to SoftGamings? Carlos de Melo - I have previous experience in financial markets and above all as an Affiliate Manager for 22BET, which operates worldwide and which has a great expression also in Brazil, for the Portuguese and Spanish speaking markets and currently responsible for LATAM.
What services does Softgamings offer? What are your differentials?
SoftGamings is a market aggregator since it can provide, through white label solutions or turnkey casino solutions, absolutely all the features that a casino needs from creation from scratch to commercial launch online. These solutions include a complete package with the international license (Curacao or Malta), the website design, more than 4,000 casino games and live casino, all payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, Boleto, Skrill etc, and account bank with payment reserve. More than 200 casinos worldwide use these SoftGamings solutions.
In addition to the white label and turnkey casino, SoftGamings also provides existing casinos with the following solutions that can be easily integrated: BonusSystem Standalone (Unique in the market), Integration of Casino Games, Bank Account Management, Betting System Sports, Slots and Live Casino Package.
You followed the last BgC Digital Experience. Does this demonstrate your company's clear interest in expanding into this market?
Yes, without a doubt, the Brazilian market presents itself as a crucial bet in the expansion strategy of SoftGamings, where we are already very successful with our existing customers and more and more European and Asian businessmen wanting to invest in the sports betting and casino market online in Brazil and the rest of Latin America. SoftGamings will be present in 2021 in all online and in-person events taking place in Latin America, such as ICE and SIGMA.
Are you following what has happened in Brazil in terms of legalizing gambling? Do you see the legislation of this sector with optimism here?
Yes, I am very optimistic about the regulation of the Brazilian market, which will be very beneficial for the quality of online gambling services and naturally be a great source of revenue for the Brazilian state. Despite seeing the Brazilian regulations with great optimism, we always recommend that, together with the local license, our operators also have our international license in order to be able to internationalize the brand more, especially for the rest of the Latin American market. But lately, many European and Asian investors anticipate a great growth of this market in Latin America.
Softgamings had a Brazilian client during its journey. What is the profile of the Brazilian public that wants to set up a casino?
Yes, we have several clients that operate in the Brazilian market (Brazilians and foreigners), mainly from the other countries in Latin America and Portugal due to linguistic affinity. The profile of the Brazilian businessman who invests in having his own online casino / bookmaker is usually a businessman who has a particular passion for gambling, is in an age group between 30 and 50 years old, mostly male, which however lately it has changed, and usually creative people, with great business sense and with connections in the areas of marketing and affiliate market.
This year was one of renovation. What changes does Softgamings see that the market needed to make to adapt to restrictions due to the coronavirus?
This year, due to COVID-19, physical casinos saw a massive drop in revenue thanks to new measures, such as the social distance that reduced the number of visitors to physical casinos. Players who still go to traditional casinos are afraid to touch surfaces and gaming machines, as COVID-19 can also be found there. Handling money for casino deposits is another matter, as paper money is known to pose a potential threat to host viruses and bacteria. Another practical impact that COVID-19 has had on traditional casino players is that they "learned" how to place their bets online and that is the main reason why the online gaming industry has increased by more than 40% since the beginning of the year in course. Thus, this industry has attracted many more new clients, who now prefer the comfort and availability of their home to continue to be able to place their bets on casino games, live casinos, virtual sports, poker and lotteries.
Source: Exclusive GMB
