GMB – What is your assessment of ICE London, after the euphoric phase of the event?
Paulo Gerber – The fair was great! The biggest ICE event ever held, breaking records in every way, number of exhibitors, visitors, in short, it was evidence of the worldwide growth of iGaming. In short, it was fantastic and extremely useful and relevant to us.
You talk about records. Was it possible to strengthen existing partnerships and conquer new projects in the face of so many possibilities?
Of course. Every time I've been to the event has been very fruitful, but this time even more, because we have a greater number of partners and companies in the negotiation phase. The expansion of our business is also reflected in the usefulness of the event as a space for approaching and maintaining relationships, both current ones and the creation of new relationships with partners that make sense for our business.
It's not just a product and service demonstration fair, but relationships, then?
Exactly. The networking was fantastic during the three days. We had several meetings, contacts and expansion of possibilities with current and new partners, who are in the process of starting or finalizing negotiations, so this was all very important.
Did you notice, like other market players, the interest in Brazil?
It is evident the fantastic moment that Brazil is going through in this iGaming segment. Our country is currently opening its doors, because the market here is “exploding” in a good way, in terms of business volume. So, when we say that we are from Brazil, companies are interested in talking, negotiating.
In all segments? Since we know how much GamersBank is involved in poker…
The big ball at the time is sports betting, but there is also a great interest from players who are already strongly active in poker in Brazil and from new ones that continue to emerge and want to participate in this market. Brazilian poker is also growing a lot, in addition to the fantastic phenomenon that has been sports betting in both 2022 and 2023.
So, Brazil's participation in this event has been increasingly relevant and the importance and receptivity given to Brazilian players is remarkable, which, without a doubt, facilitates our circulation and our entry to talk to any partner that interest within this event.
What could you say about GamersBank's current situation?
We are in a very positive moment, because we are launching our GamersBank digital account, reinforcing GamersWallet's performance with features that are increasingly relevant to our users, and we are also starting operations with some partners with our PIX processing solution, the GamersPay. So now we operate with this trio of products: digital account, e-wallet and PIX processing. We have also grown in the face-to-face poker segment, together with our partners BSOP, LAPT and WSOP Circuit, providing our customers, poker players, with an increasingly complete and comprehensive solution.
In view of this assessment, the big question is about your feelings about the current situation in the Brazilian market…
The fact is that Brazil is on the crest of the wave and this is a source of great pride for us, both because we are Brazilian and because of the relevance of this for GamersBank as a company operating in this market.
We are following the movements regarding the regulation of sports betting by the new government and we are very happy to see that the matter is being dealt with quickly, by all indications, and that soon we will have the regulation for the operation of sports betting in Brazil, which is very important for our market.
And the other verticals, are they following the same path?
We continue to expect that the other iGamings, particularly casino, bingos and jogo do bicho, will be dealt with by Congress as soon as possible, because this is also very important for our country. We need to put an end to this prohibition situation, which does not cooperate with Brazil at all. I am convinced that the correct path is the legalization of the gaming sector and the regulation of all of this, because it will bring jobs, taxes, investments and tourism growth.
Are you preparing for that future and do you expect it to be soon?
Our company already follows all the rules and regulations of the Central Bank, because our purpose is to formalize our role as a Payment Institution Regulated by the BC as soon as possible, given our constant growth. This movement will certainly take place soon, which will make us even more robust and will meet everything we have done throughout our history, in the sense of guaranteeing compliance and the best control and security practices, both for users, but also in relation to the laws and norms of our country and particularly of the Central Bank.
Source: Exclusive GMB
