Brazil’s SPA tells 37 fintechs to stop processing payments for unlicensed bookmakers by end of August

Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), part of the Ministry of Finance, has sent notices to 37 fintech companies that were handling payments for about 160 unlicensed operators. For PSPs and acquirers in high-risk verticals, the point is simple: the regulator is no longer only chasing sites, it is going after the payment layer that keeps them alive.

1. The SPA has given the 37 fintechs until the end of August to end this business. The notice is not just a polite request: once formally notified, a company has 24 hours to block the operator’s accounts and stop new transactions.
2. Brazil’s rules also introduce a direct financial risk for the intermediary. If the fintech fails to comply, it can be held jointly liable for tax obligations linked to the illegal operator. For payment firms, that turns merchant onboarding and ongoing processing into a balance-sheet issue, not just a compliance checkbox.
3. The enforcement sits on top of a broader blocking campaign. Authorities have already restricted access to about 54,000 illegal websites, but 41–51% of platforms are still operating without a licence. In other words, site blocking has not closed the market; the payment rails are now the obvious pressure point.

For high-risk PSPs, Brazil is making the operating model pretty clear: if you touch unlicensed betting, you are in the regulator’s line of fire, and the exposure is not limited to account freezes.