Brazil opens public consultation to update betting licences

Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) has launched Public Consultation Notice No. 3/2026 to revise the authorization rules for betting operators. For PSPs and acquirers, the timing matters because the licensing framework is still being adjusted while the market is already live and growing.

1. The SPA published the consultation last Wednesday with one clear goal: gather input for a new decree that will set revised rules for authorizing betting operations in Brazil. The current consultation is aimed at improving the licensing process, not rewriting the market from scratch.
2. The Brazilian market is already sizeable by local standards. In July 2026, it had more than 187 federally authorized platforms under the SPA/MF, plus dozens of operators holding state licences. That is a lot of active merchants for a regime that opened officially only a year and a half ago, which explains why the regulator is still tightening the process.
3. This review was already on the calendar. It is part of the SPA’s Regulatory Ordinance Plan, set out in Ordinance No. 817 in April 2025, which originally said the authorization procedure would be reviewed in the first quarter of this year. That deadline passed; the online consultation channel is now open.
4. The consultation is designed to update the authorization procedure under SPA/MF Ordinance No. 827/2024, the rule that governs the licensing requirements for sports betting and online gaming operators in Brazil. The regulator says the new text will reflect lessons learned from the first licensing cycle after the sector was formalized.
5. The move also sits inside the SPA’s 2026-2027 regulatory agenda, formalized in February through SPA/MF Ordinance No. 408/2026. That plan names three priority areas for the first part of the year: revising operator authorization procedures, updating measures against irregular payment transactions, and advancing rules for affiliate advertising online.

For payment providers, the relevant part is the second item in that agenda. Brazil’s betting market operates under Law No. 14.790/2023, in force since 1 January 2025, with stricter rules on player protection and anti-money laundering. When a regulator is revising licensing and payment controls at the same time, merchant onboarding, transaction monitoring, and reserve policies tend to follow the new paperwork soon after.