In a comprehensive interview, Carlos Vieira was asked about sports betting and online gaming. The state-owned bank has already submitted a license request to the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), received authorization, but the project has not progressed as expected.
The delay is due to the complexity of operating under government control, where decision-making is significantly more bureaucratic than in the private sector. As a result, Caixa is not yet collecting the revenues it had anticipated for 2025.
According to Vieira, sports betting and online gaming should still be launched this year, which he guarantees will bring in an additional R$ 2 billion (US$ 360m) in 2025 and around R$ 7 billion (US$1.25bn) in 2026.
Below is the excerpt in which Carlos Vieira discusses Caixa’s betting platform:
Folha - Will Caixa launch its own betting platform this year?
Carlos Vieira - The expectation is for the second half of the year. Caixa has been in the gaming world since 1966. We’re taking great care to do this thoroughly, with oversight from regulatory bodies. Last year, Caixa raised nearly R$ 26 billion (US$ 4.7bn) from gaming, and 48% of that was transferred in the form of taxes.
If we launch in the second half, we expect to generate at least R$ 2 billion (US$ 360m). Next year, around R$ 7 billion (US$1.25bn). If we capture our expected market share in betting, we believe total revenue should surpass R$ 35 (US$6.3bn) to R$ 40 (US$7.2bn) billion next year.
Folha - What is the role of a public bank when Brazilians are spending so much on gaming, which can lead to family debt?
Carlos Vieira - We promote responsible gambling. We’ll invest heavily in awareness campaigns. We have monitoring tools to track social behavior around this. There’s gambling all over the world. What we need to do is educate society so it understands and adopts what we call responsible gambling.
Source: GMB
