Brazil’s Central Bank has written the federal prohibition on fixed-odds betting into the operating rules of Pix, boleto and TED, the payment rails that dominate Brazilian transfers. Three resolutions published on 30 September require institutions to reject gambling-related payments as they are attempted, leaving only refunds to former bettors as an exception. The change makes the ban a structural rule of the payment system itself, not merely a separate legal measure.
Three resolutions amend the rails
Resolutions BCB nº 595, 596 and 597 cover TED, boleto and Pix respectively. The Pix amendment is the first change to Resolution BCB nº 1 of 12 August 2020, the founding rulebook that created the instant payment system, since its launch. The rules bar participants from handling or settling any transfer whose destination is a fixed-odds betting operator. The boleto obligation is retroactive to 25 September, the date Provisional Measure 1,394 was published, while the TED and Pix amendments apply from 30 September (Tech Times).
Real-time screening against tax identifiers
Enforcement checks outgoing payment destinations against a list of CNPJ tax identifiers linked to known betting operators, and a match causes the transfer to be rejected at that moment. This control catches operators registered in Brazil, but offshore and unlicensed sites without a Brazilian CNPJ can fall outside it. By September 2026, Brazilian authorities had ordered the blocking of more than 66,000 betting-related domains at the internet infrastructure level, according to data cited by Tech Times. Pay4Fun’s chief executive has warned that when a payment method is banned, money tends to find another route. A separate electronic system required by the provisional measure to reject and return transfers between institutions has not yet been set up through a Central Bank resolution.
One exception: returning players’ money
All three resolutions permit transactions needed solely to close accounts and send remaining funds back to bettors. The provisional measure also provides for open bets to be cancelled and stakes returned without deductions. No other gambling-linked transfer is allowed during the wind-down period.
Pix is the main route for betting money
Pix has more than 150 million active users and handles close to R$2.5 trillion a month, according to Central Bank figures cited by Tech Times. The Brazilian Federation of Banks has said more than 90 percent of payments to betting operators go through Pix. A Central Bank study published in September 2024 put monthly Pix transfers to betting companies at between R$18 billion and R$21 billion during 2024, with R$20.8 billion moved in August 2024 across about 24 million people. Pix volumes to betting platforms had already dropped roughly 10 percent in the days after the provisional measure was signed, before the three resolutions took effect. Finsiders Brasil said codifying the rule inside Pix’s regulation removes uncertainty about when institutions must apply a block.
Obligations reach beyond banks and app stores
Financial institutions, payment institutions and other participants in the payment arrangements all carry the same duty, not just entities authorised directly by the Central Bank. A fintech or processor in the chain is treated the same as a bank. App stores are a further control point: Yogonet reported that authorities told Apple and Google to remove 186 apps by 6 October. By 29 September, the ministries of Justice and Finance had sought removal of 5,209 domains, and Anatel had ordered 2,387 of those blocked, according to Casino News Daily.
The ban remains provisional for now
Provisional Measure 1,394 lasts for 60 days and can be extended once by another 60; Congress must vote to turn it into law. The legislature chosen on 4 October will be seated on 1 February 2027. Banking law specialist Bruno Medeiros Durão said oversight changes when authorities trace financial movements rather than only examining a site’s address, because they can then see how money enters, circulates through and exits an operation.
