GMB – What was your impression of the first edition of a trade show in regulated Brazil?
João Fraga – I couldn't be happier with SBC Rio. I think it's an incredible moment for the Brazilian iGaming market. We had high expectations for this moment. I think the regulated market scared a lot of people at the beginning. The very short deadline, with several adaptations, many compliance rules and many new things that the market wasn't used to yet. But I'm sure that this will improve the system and everyone's operations as a whole.
I think it also helps with the general public's visibility of our market. It's huge, much bigger than last year. It's packed, lots of cool people, lots of business being done. So, I couldn't be happier. It's incredible.
In other words, did you give us a hint that Paag left with signed contracts or almost signed here at the trade show?
Definitely! The goal, whenever we participate in a trade show, besides seeing friends, talking and developing connections, is of course to do business. Paag is increasingly preparing itself for the market. We invested heavily in technology and structuring last year. Today, we are a much more robust and larger company. We already were, but we are evolving more and more. This helps us, because we are already a well-known company in the market.
The companies that work with us recommend us to other clients. So, it ends up being natural for you to arrive at a trade show of this size and leave with a signed contract. I believe that we left much bigger than when we entered the trade show. It's been a very good time. I think that, from my experiences at trade shows in Brazil, this is one of the best. And it comes together with the regulated market. We are in a very cool moment.
Speaking of the regulated market, are there still challenges for this regulated market for Paag, or is everything already settled?
There are always challenges, because we are very close to our partners. So, for Paag, our partners' challenges are our challenges. We have a very close relationship and we want to help in every way. We try to understand: "Dude, where are you having difficulty?" We reach out to the operators and ask them what their challenges are today. We understand how, using our technology and our know-how, we can solve and overcome these challenges.
As long as there are challenges for the operators, there will be challenges for Paag, because our goal and our DNA is to help operators have a smoother, cheaper operation, with a higher conversion rate. So, for us, it is natural. We live off the challenge. I think that, when there are no more challenges, everything will change. The regulated market has challenges and will continue to have them. New ordinances will come out and there will be a lot to adapt to and a lot to understand better.
We have the entire money laundering prevention part, which many companies are already prepared for, but others have not yet managed to look at it. We already have products ready to help. We are prepared and preparing for all the new challenges that will come our way.
How to overcome the challenge of customer onboarding or re-boarding, since we know that it was a bit complicated at the beginning of the year? What solutions did Paag come up with to reduce this friction?
I think that, from the point of view of what you have to look at, it's not just one problem or something specific. It's all about evangelizing these customers to understand that, now, the regulated market requires document inspection, liveness, and what this is for. There's work behind the scenes. Operations need to evangelize these players. Of course, this increases friction.
At Paag, we have our own KYC, developed internally, focused on conversion rate and usability. Several A/B tests were carried out to understand what the best path is for the user, what the best way to bring them in with the least possible friction. We have a product called PaagID, which allows the user to share their documentation with several different companies. This way, they only face this friction once. The next time they access other companies, the process is much easier. There is no easy recipe. Each case is different. Players' behaviors are different. Our difference lies in being close to the operations, understanding their challenges and offering a product adapted to each client. We work very closely with the operators, and our goal is to make their lives easier.
What are Paag's plans for the coming months in terms of products and increased brand visibility?
Paag has now become a hub of products for the betting market. We offer several services, such as bank accounts, transactional payments, mass payments, bill payments, anti-fraud protection, KYC, face matching, liveness, among others. We already have a range of products and are developing others. We want to help, not only with basic services, but also to bring more players to the bookmakers. We will launch products for player acquisition and retention.
We are looking 360º to see how we can help companies in the market. In the coming months, new products will be launched through partnerships and others will be developed internally. We always look at what is happening in the international market to bring innovative solutions to Brazil.
In addition, we are preparing a major announcement that will be made at BiS SiGMA, which will take place from April 7 to 10, in São Paulo. I invite everyone to visit our stand. We have some great news to share. It will be a new Paag, evolving along with the regulated market.
Source: Exclusive GMB
