Interactive

Brazil – Brazilian bank CAIXA expands its online gaming offer

By Phil - 16 August 2018

Brazil’s largest state owned bank and lottery operator – the Caixa Econômica Federal (CAIXA) has launched a website extending its offer of online games.

Crucially for the first time the site will allow non CAIXA bank account holders the chance to take part in its games. It is expected that the site will account for three per cent of annual bets.

Three per cent of sales amounts to R$457m (US$117m) in 12 months and this is expected to increase to five per cent over time. However, the new move is likely to have a negative affect on the physical sales for the 13,000 CAIXA lottery outlets nationwide.

The launch was initially scheduled for mid 2017 but was delayed due to negotiations with Febralot (The Brazilian Federation of Lottery Companies). CAIXA expects to increase lottery revenue by making games more accessible for those who do not usually go to lottery outlets, such as those aged between 18 and 30 years old – and those who are used to making purchases online and internet banking. The new online portal, it is hoped, will in particular attract more women players, who currently only make up only 15 per cent of physical lottery sales. In October, CAIXA will also launch an app to facilitate the purchase of online tickets.

The portal (www.loteriasonline.caixa.gov.br) will be permitted for Mega-Sena, Lotofácil, Quina, Lotomania, Timemania, Dupla Sena, Loteca and Lotogol all through the specially designed website. Until now, only current account holders with Caixa accounts could bet on the Internet and only on Mega-Sena. In order to access the site, the user will need to provide their national identity number in order to confirm their age. Stakes will stand at a minimum of R$30 per day which will ensure that the player makes more than one bet (as the minimum price of a ticket is over this amount) and a maximum stake of R$500 per day.

The player may take part in all games online except the Federal Lottery, which will require a presence in a physical location. The maximum stake is also good news for land-based operators as it means that players will need to visit lottery outlets if they wish to make higher bets. However, Jodismar Amaro, President of Febralot said that it was still unclear for now to what extent the new online mode would draw players away from already existing locations.

Betting on CAIXA lotteries is already on the rise. Lotteries generated R$3.3bn (US$966,801,000) in the first quarter of 2018, according to a statement released by the bank in April with the volume of bets exceeding expectations. Caixa reported that the figure meant an increase of 19.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2017, when the body generated R$2.7bn. According to Caixa, in March lotteries generated R $1.1bn, an increase of almost 16 per cent compared to March last year. The Mega-Sena, one the largest lotteries in the world, led the pack with sales standing at R$456.7m, followed by Lotofácil, R$336.8m, and Quina, R$192.8m.

Caixa was granted the control of the lotteries in July 1961, which cancelled all lottery licences granted to the private sector. In addition to Caixa, states are also permitted to operate their own state lotteries and they outsource running of their lottery operations to outside companies. There are 16 of these lotteries in all. State lotteries must comply with the gaming standards set forth by Caixa, and may not create new gaming products.