Betting Regulation: 80% of bettors consider it essential to use facial biometrics to access platforms, indicates Serasa Experian

Facial biometrics is a user authentication technology in online environments to mitigate fraud and is one of the requirements of the "Betting Law" (Federal Law 14.790/23), a resolution that establishes rules for betting companies to operate in the country. Approximately 80% of Brazilian users of these platforms consider using the tool essential in the sector, and 73% would use it without hesitation if it were mandatory, especially for withdrawing funds (36%), logging in (33%), making account changes (30%), among other reasons. The data comes from a survey by Serasa Experian, Brazil's first and largest data technology company. See more data in the graphs below:

The study also revealed that 68% of respondents have already used facial biometrics in other situations, indicating familiarity with the technology. 49% of those surveyed are familiar with the regulations, and since the beginning of communications about the mandatory requirements from betting houses, 65% of them have shown an increase in the perception of security in the sector.

"The more layers of authentication and fraud prevention are used to protect bettors and help companies in the sector identify and ban scammers, the better the betting environment will be in Brazil. The new betting regulations are already requiring security layers to be part of the user journey to authenticate them. We help companies evaluate authentication layers, combining our big data system with analytical intelligence to maximize the solutions and thus further enhance their protection against fraud," explains Rocha.

While most survey participants recognize the relevance of facial biometrics for the betting industry, the study also explored the reasons behind those who reject the feature. Among the criticisms, "it makes access to applications more difficult" (27%) and "it allows the emergence of fraudulent platforms that don't use biometrics" (27%) were the main ones. On the other hand, those who approve of the technology highlighted that "it will be safer to bet" (36%) and "there will be less fraud in this market" (30%). See the breakdown of the reasons for liking or disliking the feature in the following chart:

The survey is an excerpt from a study on bettors' perceptions of security at betting houses, conducted with more than 2,000 participants in August 2024. The complete material with all the data is available for free on the Serasa Experian website.

Valida Bets: Serasa Experian's bet on safer platforms

To support the Brazilian government's efforts, which have been taking steps to regulate betting operations in the country since December of last year, Serasa Experian—which supports any and all initiatives aimed at increasing the security and integrity of transactions between companies and consumers—launched "Valida Bets," a strategic initiative that provides anti-fraud technologies to help betting companies adapt to the new regulations while also contributing to the safety of bettors. Thus, data technology plays a strategic role in this context as an ally in fraud prevention and identity protection for Brazilians, ensuring support at every stage of the journey, which includes phases such as bettor registration, authentication, placing a bet, and redeeming bonuses.

Methodology 

The quantitative survey "Sports Betting", conducted by Serasa Experian, was conducted with 2,008 respondents, all of whom placed sports bets on websites or apps in the last 12 months. With a margin of error of 2.2% and a confidence interval of 95%, the survey was administered via an online panel between August 9th and 22nd, 2024. The sample was balanced between females and males, with ages ranging from 18 to 27 years old (15%), 28 to 43 years old (49%), 44 to 59 years old (29%), and 60+ (7%).