Brazil’s central bank criticizes banks for betting ads in apps and weighs new anti-debt rules

Brazil’s Banco Central is taking aim at the odd little arrangement where financial institutions run betting ads inside their own apps while the country worries about gambling-related debt. For high-risk payment providers, that points to a coming round of consumer-protection rules for the digital channel, not just another speech from a regulator.

1. On Tuesday (1/9), Izabela Correa, director of citizenship and conduct supervision at the Banco Central, said financial institutions are displaying ads for sports betting operators, or bets, in their apps and digital pages. She made the comments at the Zetta Summit 2026 in Brasília, according to Valor.
2. Correa said the Banco Central sees an “incoherence” in institutions promoting betting products while also being responsible for consumer protection. Her point was straightforward: if a bank’s app is one of the main financial touchpoints for a consumer, then that same interface is also where the bank needs to think about overindebtedness, not just conversion rates.
3. The remarks reinforced an earlier statement from Ailton de Aquino, the BC’s director of supervision, who spoke at the same event. The central bank said it is studying measures to expand consumer protection as gambling-related debt grows.
4. Correa also said the Sistema Financeiro Nacional (SFN) must take responsibility both for product distribution and for consumers’ financial education. She pointed to “behavioral biases” in the digital environment, which she said require attention from the monetary authority.
5. The BC said it has been moving forward with internal studies and discussions to publish digital-environment protection rules in the coming months. Correa added that sports betting represents a higher default risk for consumers, which is the part PSPs and acquiring partners will want to note if new rules start translating into tighter onboarding, placement, or marketing limits inside banking apps.

For payment providers serving Brazil, the signal is less about morality and more about distribution: if the regulator is already bothered by betting ads inside bank apps, it is also thinking about where consumer harm begins, how digital interfaces shape behavior, and what responsibilities financial institutions have when gambling spend starts feeding debt.