President announces that Caixa will launch a betting platform in November.
Caixa Econômica Federal will make an additional R$ 40 billion available for mortgage lending and will launch its own online betting platform in November. The announcement was made by the institution's president, Carlos Vieira, in an interview with the newspaper O Globo this Thursday (16). The initiatives include greater attention to the middle class segment.
The focus on expanding services to the middle class was requested by President Lula, as reported by Vieira. The public bank already implemented changes to housing finance last week, increasing the percentage of financing available for residential properties from 70% to 80%.
The statements from the president of Caixa come as the bank goes through a period of dismissals of appointees from parties considered not aligned with the government in Congress. When questioned about his continued tenure, Vieira stated: “I haven’t submitted my vacation notice. I could submit it, but I haven’t.”
Sports betting and online gaming
During the interview, Vieira revealed that the financial institution's online betting operation should begin at the end of November and that the reduction in lottery revenue is related to the lack of large accumulated prizes at the beginning of 2025.
“People tend to gamble more when the prize pool is accumulating, and we haven't had any large accumulated prizes at the beginning of this year. Regarding the betting platform, we are preparing to launch it at the end of November. It's a new market, and Caixa is a new entrant. We want to be a major player. The estimated revenue is between R$ 2 billion and R$ 2,5 billion for next year,” declared the president of Caixa.
The projected revenue for 2026 indicates the scale of the project in the online betting sector. Caixa seeks to establish itself as a competitor in the betting market while maintaining its operations in housing finance, with a renewed focus on the Brazilian middle class.
Authorization in July
The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance (SPA-MF) published in the Official Gazette of the Union on July 30th the decree authorizing Caixa Loterias SA to operate the fixed-odds betting lottery modality. The regulation (SPA/MF No. 1.665/2025) allows the operation of the brands BetCaixa (bettaixa.bet.br), MegaBet (megabet.bet.br) and Xbet Caixa (xbettaixa.bet.br), covering sports betting and online games, in both physical and virtual modalities, valid until December 31, 2029.
In December 2024, Caixa announced the hiring of Playtech – VS Technolog as an integrated provider for the development and technical support of its sports betting solution. The company will provide a "Turnkey" and "Omnichannel" platform, integrating physical and digital environments into a single system.
The implementation of lottery betting in physical outlets, however, faces regulatory challenges. Among the main obstacles are the KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements, which include complete registration with personal data, presentation of identification documents, and mandatory facial recognition for each bettor. Furthermore, current regulations only allow transactions via PIX, TED (Brazilian instant payment system), debit cards, and prepaid cards, prohibiting the use of cash – which represents a significant barrier to operation in lottery outlets.
On August 11th, Caixa Loterias, in partnership with Playtech, presented to the Lottery Network the operational model for sports betting in physical stores in São Paulo, and is developing a system similar to an affiliate program to reward lottery agents for acquiring new customers.
