The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) Payment Provider Forum has published a best-practice guide to help payment providers in Brazil to combat illegal sports betting and strengthen protections across the regulated market.

The guide provides practical, actionable steps for identifying and blocking financial flows connected to unlicensed operators. It also aims to support compliance with Brazil’s new betting regulations, while helping safeguard both betting and sporting-event integrity.

The Payment Provider Forum was established in February 2025. It brings together leading payment companies such as Pay4Fun, Z.ro Bank, OKTO and OneKey Payments, alongside other industry stakeholders focused on shared risks and reinforcing market integrity.

With the introduction of Law No. 14,790/2023, payment providers in Brazil are prohibited from processing transactions for unauthorised betting operators. In response, the guide sets out operational controls designed to reduce legal, financial and reputational exposure.

The document highlights the main financial threats associated with illegal betting, including shell accounts, fraudulent cash-outs, links to match-fixing and organized crime. It also describes measures payment providers can implement, such as continuous license checks, risk-based transaction monitoring and improved due diligence.

IBIA CEO Khalid Ali said the guide offers “a practical blueprint for collaboration,” aligning payment providers, operators and integrity stakeholders around clear controls and consistent action to protect the regulated betting ecosystem.

Forum co-chair Ari Celia, representing Pay4Fun, added that payment providers are at the front line of market channelisation and compliance, and that robust controls combined with reliable intelligence-sharing can block unlicensed activity quickly and consistently.

Co-chair Marcelo Bueno, representing Z.ro Bank, said the guide provides clear controls across licensing validation, risk-based monitoring, and structured blocking and reporting protocols. He noted these measures are intended to protect the regulated market while reducing legal, financial and reputational risk.

A key message of the guide is that effective action depends on collaboration across the ecosystem. By sharing intelligence and coordinating efforts, payment providers, operators, regulators and integrity bodies can more effectively detect suspicious activity and disrupt illegal betting networks.

Through initiatives like the Payment Provider Forum, IBIA continues to support efforts to improve market channelisation, strengthen financial safeguards and promote cross-sector cooperation in the fight against illegal betting and financial crime related to match-fixing.

About IBIA

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) is a not-for-profit organisation supported by operators dedicated to protecting betting integrity. Through its Global Monitoring & Alert Platform (Global MAP), IBIA uses intelligence contributed by 90+ member operators to identify and share alerts about suspicious betting activity across regulated markets worldwide.

IBIA also operates a collaboration model that supports intelligence sharing among operators, sports governing bodies, regulators and law enforcement. The organisation helps prevent manipulation of sports and betting markets through athlete education, policy guidance and by promoting integrity standards.

About IBIA Payment Provider Forum

IBIA’s Payment Provider Forum brings together leading payment platforms and key industry stakeholders to address shared risks, disrupt illegal betting payment flows and strengthen integrity across regulated markets. By closing security and compliance gaps and reinforcing protective safeguards, the Forum helps build trust and combat financial crime linked to illegal betting.