The monetary authority also stated that it did not produce preparatory documents for the drafting of the technical note, published on September 24. Despite not providing information on the supporting materials for the study, the Central Bank (BC) mentioned terms such as "survey" and "registration data," contradicting its own response.
The BC denied access to the data used to support the drafting of the technical note, justifying that they are "covered by rules of secrecy or confidentiality."
As reported by Folha, the report left gaps and triggered reactions from industry executives, who accused the technical analysis of not considering the amount returned in prizes. According to a survey commissioned by the betting sector, Bolsa Família beneficiaries spent R$ 210 million (US$ 37m) on bets in August.
In total, the BC pointed out that R$ 21.1 billion (US$ 3.7bn) in bets were identified in August via Pix. Of this amount, R$ 20.8 billion (US$ 3.66bn) in transfers were received by 56 companies.
According to the Central Bank, this smaller group of companies was identified based on citations "extracted from news provided by information providers and reports from consultancies that conducted studies on this betting market, available on the internet."
In the study itself, the agency stated that companies categorized in the gambling and betting sector moved a relatively small share in financial terms.
In response to the report, the monetary authority says that the mapping of companies operating as betting platforms also took into account payment intermediaries that are not classified within the betting economic sector.
In this regard, the BC says there is "no guarantee that the identification is not subject to errors," which casts doubt on the conclusions of the study.
"Furthermore, since these are intermediaries, it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint the final beneficiary of the transaction. Therefore, the potential disclosure of the list of companies considered in the study as betting platforms may cause commercial harm to companies that may have been incorrectly identified or assigned an amount related to betting activity different from the actual one," it stated.
In the technical note sent to the Senate in September, the BC stated that "approximately 15% of what is bet is retained by the companies," with the remainder being passed on to the winners. However, the institution did not disclose the amounts paid out as prizes. These figures are disputed by industry executives.
This percentage, according to the Central Bank, is the result of a calculation that considers the volume of transfers to selected Pix keys (credits) and the volume of transfers made by the CNPJs (companies) holding the accounts of the same Pix keys to individuals (debits).
When asked why the study did not consider the amounts left on the platforms for the bettors' use, the BC said it did not have access to this information, also due to the Access to Information Law (LAI).
The numbers disclosed by the monetary authority led President Lula to call a meeting at the Palácio do Planalto to discuss the issue with ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance), Wellington Dias (Social Development), Nísia Trindade (Health), Ricardo Lewandowski (Justice), among other participants.
At the time, the government evaluated that, before taking tougher measures, it would monitor how the actions already announced by the Ministry of Finance could impact the market. On Thursday (17), Minister Wellington Dias stated that the Bolsa Família card could not be used as a payment method on online betting sites.
Since the BC study came to light, pressure from banks and retailers for greater control over bets has increased. They argue that the expansion of online sports betting in Brazil has triggered family indebtedness.
To Folha, the president of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), Isaac Sidney, warned of an impending catastrophe due to the formation of a delinquency bubble. The National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services, and Tourism (CNC), meanwhile, filed a lawsuit with the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against the law regulating bets.
At the request of the Attorney General's Office (AGU), the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services prepared a technical note on the subject, refuting claims that betting expenditures led to a drop in retail and increased population indebtedness. The department also questioned the Central Bank's conclusions on the topic.
According to reports heard by Folha, the limitations of the study produced by an institution recognized for its technical rigor were viewed with surprise, while the lack of attribution for the study's authorship generated discomfort among government members.
The BC only provided some information regarding the methodology used in the study via the Access to Information Law (LAI) after an appeal, without many details.
According to the authority, the study used data from the Pix payment system, stating that it had individualized client information protected by banking secrecy. To identify people in extreme financial vulnerability, it considered information from Bolsa Família beneficiaries as of December 2023 (the latest data available to the BC).
The process of calculating the values presented in the document used "only counts consolidated by participation or not in the program, gender, age, and whether the individual is the head of the household."
"We emphasize that no individualized data was extracted that would allow for a more detailed identification of Bolsa Família participants," it added.
The BC says it has a technical cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger for implementing joint actions in the area of financial citizenship.
Source: Folha
