Brazil Blocks Welfare Funds from Online Gambling
The Brazilian Federal Government has announced measures to prevent recipients of the Bolsa Família and Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC) programs from depositing funds into online gambling accounts until year’s end.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:The decision follows a Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruling that mandates safeguards to ensure public assistance funds are not misused for betting activities. This initiative affects over 50 million Bolsa Família recipients and approximately 3.75 million BPC beneficiaries.
The policy stems from growing alarm over the misuse of welfare funds, highlighted by a Central Bank report which found that 5 million social benefit recipients spent over R$3 billion ($540 million) on online gambling platforms via the Pix payment system in August 2025 alone.
This expenditure, averaging R$100 ($18) per person, represents roughly 20% of the Bolsa Família program’s monthly budget, which supports 21 million families with an average payment of R$685 ($126).
How the Restrictions Will Work
To enforce the ban, the government will leverage Brazil’s CPF (individual tax ID) system, requiring all licensed sports betting operators to verify user identities against a centralized database managed by the Federal Data Processing Service (Serpro). This system, accessible via API, will ensure that Bolsa Família and BPC recipients cannot open new betting accounts or deposit funds into existing ones.
The system is expected to begin operating in September 2025, with a one-month adaptation period for operators before full implementation by December.
The restrictions address a critical loophole in the current system, where blocking Bolsa Família card transactions is insufficient since welfare funds are often deposited into linked bank accounts, where they mix with other personal funds and make it challenging to track their use.
However, by barring beneficiaries entirely from gambling activities, regardless of the funding source, the government aims to comply with the STF’s directive while ensuring the protection of social assistance funds.
Related: Brazilian Senator Demands End to Regulated Sports Betting
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Why the Ban Matters
Introduced in 2004 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsa Família provides financial assistance to families with a monthly income below R$218 ($40) per person, offering a minimum benefit of R$600 ($110) plus extra support for children and vulnerable family members.
The BPC offers R$1,412 ($259) monthly to low-income elderly individuals or those with disabilities. The discovery that significant portions of these funds are being diverted to online betting platforms prompted urgent action.
With the new restrictions, the government aims to ensure that welfare recipients, who represent nearly 30% of Brazil’s population, are excluded from the online betting market.
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. 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.
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