Brazil: Those on Social Welfare Cannot Deposit into Betting Accounts

Brazil’s federal government is tightening its gambling rules, making sure that money from key social assistance programs is not redirected into betting accounts. The Ministry of Finance confirmed that participants in Bolsa Família and the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC) will no longer be able to make new deposits with licensed operators until the end of the year.

Good to know

• Bolsa Família supports over 19 million families, while BPC covers nearly 4 million people.
• Around 80 licensed operators will need to check a centralized database before deposits are accepted.
• The restriction starts with a testing phase in September and becomes fully effective by year’s end.

The new rule responds to a Supreme Federal Court decision that ordered authorities to protect social assistance funds from being used for gambling. Two measures will take effect: no new betting accounts for beneficiaries, and existing accounts will be barred from receiving deposits.

Regis Dudena, Secretary of Prizes and Gambling at the Ministry of Finance, explained that the system relies on Brazil’s CPF registration — a taxpayer ID required to open a gambling account. Operators will need to confirm each CPF against a government database before allowing deposits.

He noted:

“It is a centralized registration, with the data of the beneficiaries of these two major social programs, which will be consulted by the betting houses via API. They will not receive the data of all beneficiaries, but they will have to consult at specific points to ensure these beneficiaries cannot deposit money.”

Timeline for Implementation

The centralized system, managed by Serpro (the Federal Data Processing Service), is expected to be operational in September. A one-month adaptation period will follow, with full enforcement planned before 2026 begins.

The Ministry of Finance estimates that effective monthly betting spend — wagers minus prizes — is about BRL 2.9 billion ($580 million). This is far below the BRL 20–30 billion range cited by Brazil’s Central Bank.

In the first half of 2025, roughly 17.7 million Brazilians placed bets, averaging BRL 164 per active user per month. Dudena highlighted the importance of tracking spending patterns more closely:

“From now on, we are starting to take a closer look at the players. We know the average spending is BR160 per month. But how is it distributed? I have many players with very low spending and a few with very high spending. We are beginning to examine this in more detail now.”