Paysafe, a global payments platform, today announced that it has received approval from the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) for a payment institution (PI) license for the country’s launch of its regulated online sports-betting and gambling market. The license allows Paysafe to expand its payment partnerships with iGaming operators into Latin America’s most populated country as well as support Brazilian merchants in a range of other industries with eCommerce payments.

The PI license enables Paysafe, which also recently joined the Brazilian Association of Fintechs (ABFintechs), to deepen its substantial footprint in the regulated Latin American iGaming space. The 90+ regulated global iGaming jurisdictions where Paysafe currently has a presence include Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, and, most recently, Peru, whose new regulated market went live in early 2024.

With a population of 212 million and a projected sports-betting turnover of $34 billion by 2028, Brazil is expected to eclipse all other Latin American jurisdictions in size – and Paysafe is strongly positioned to support the market’s growth potential. In addition to being able to extend its established partnerships with leading international operators into Brazil, Paysafe offers a suite of payment choices catering to Brazilians’ diverse payment preferences.

By partnering with Paysafe, Brazilian operators can offer their customers Skrill and NETELLER, the most established digital wallets developed specifically for iGaming, as well as a range of other alternative payment methods (APMs) via Paysafe’s SafetyPay payment gateway, including instant bank transfers using BCB’s Pix payment system.

Beyond online sports betting and iGaming, Paysafe’s PI license allows the company to support Brazilian eCommerce, travel, and entertainment merchants as well as digital content creators with its suite of APMs.

“With this expansion, Paysafe is poised to better serve the Brazilian market with payment solutions, including the regulated Brazilian iGaming market, which will mark a new era for not only Latin American gaming but also the global space, with the country becoming the third largest betting jurisdiction on earth,” said Rob Gatto, Chief Revenue Officer at Paysafe. “We’re delighted to bring our deep payments, regulatory and compliance experience into play in this important new market to support Brazilian operators’ growth with our payment solutions following our new payment institution license, which will also allow us to streamline online transactions for local travel and entertainment merchants.”