FitBank, JP Morgan, and illegal betting.

One of the payment institutions that has been operating transactions for illegal betting is FitBank, which has in its shareholder base none other than JP Morgan, the largest bank in the United States.

As revealed in Tácio Lorran's column in Metrópoles , financial and payment institutions supervised by the Central Bank have been illegally acting as payment intermediaries for betting companies that are not authorized by the Ministry of Finance to operate in Brazil.

The column identified eight institutions, including FitBank, operating transactions for illegal betting, across a total of 136 websites.

In the case of FitBank, seven websites were identified, all linked to the same company, Latin Pay Ltd (whose owners are Chinese), which use the payment institution as an intermediary for transactions.

The platforms claim to offer bonuses of up to R$150 for bettors. One of the sites even indicates that the betting company is accredited by the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj), but this is not true.

FitBank is an institution regulated and supervised by the Central Bank for over 9 years and has more than 200 clients.

In a statement, the payment institution affirmed that it applies rigorous compliance standards and supports all actions by the federal government and the Central Bank aimed at improving transparency and facilitating the monitoring of illegal activities.

“Specifically regarding the betting sector, as a preventative measure, FitBank's risk monitoring teams carry out anti-fraud work, actively searching for and blocking irregular betting sites daily, always following the rules and regulations in force. This activity is both overt and dynamic, and includes the negative list published by the Ministry of Finance, as well as proprietary lists containing a total of more than 4 unauthorized links,” he explained.

"FitBank's compliance policy also requires its clients to sign a declaration guaranteeing that they do not engage with illegal websites, and informs the COAF (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) about any suspicious transactions," he added.

FitBank concluded that it does not have betting sites as clients, acting only as a service provider for PSPs (Payment Service Providers) and payment gateways.

What does JP Morgan say?

The column also reached out to JP Morgan. In a statement, the bank declined to comment on the content of the report, but sent the following note:

“FitBank is a payment services provider for JP Morgan in some products as part of our network of payment partners, none related to gambling. In Brazil, we offer FitBank to our clients as a solution for paying local taxes. FitBank is also part of our strategic investments,” JP Morgan clarified.