He central bank and the Argentine Fintech Chamber They are developing conversations to find solutions that help stop the growth of cases of gambling in adolescents, particularly through the online platforms they access through the use of electronic wallets. Days ago, in the same sense, a group of deputies presented a letter addressed to the head of the BCRA, Santiago Bausiliand 33 financial apps to provide measures in that regard.
The content of these measures is not yet resolved. As far as he could know Infobaemay include from awareness and prevention campaigns to specific measures, such as modifying the mechanism for transferring funds to betting companies. It is analyzed, by case, that some of these transfers require some additional requirement.
Concern about the issue is very high on both sides of the negotiating table. On the official side, the issue goes beyond the Central Bank since There is interest from the Government in taking some measurein view of the harmful consequences, sometimes dramatic, that online gambling causes in adolescents and their families.
From the business side there is also interest in addressing the issue. Wallets do not want one of the main attributes of their product, the simplicity and speed of its use, to be exploited to promote an addiction. Especially within its essential target since children are the segment that drives the digitalization of payments. In the first four months of the year, according to data from Coelsa, 11 million accounts were opened in the Argentine financial system between fintech and banks: 35% corresponded to children under 15 years of age while 49% were made by users between 16 and 30 years of age.
Although minors can open accounts, regulations prohibit them from making transfers to gaming platforms. That is why “cashiers” appeared, adults who contact minors on social networks to offer them the “service” of betting their money in casinos and authorized online betting sites or to contact them to play on trout applications or websites.
The economic and marketing weight of the platforms (many even sponsor soccer clubs) does not seduce them either: in one of those wallets they explain that they rejected a joint promotion with an online gaming company, which was very economically convenient. They preferred to take care of their brand and not associate it with something that is known to cause problematic consumption for young people.
There is harmony between companies and the BCRA on what should be done. The problem is how to do it. Although minors can open accounts, regulations prohibit them from making transfers to gaming platforms. At the same time, there are authorized platforms that prevent them from registering. And also, in the virtual game there are many clandestine alternatives, just like in the face-to-face game.
The regulation made the “cashiers”adults who contact minors on social networks to offer them the “service” of betting their money in casinos and authorized online betting sites or to contact them to play on trout applications or websites.
Because of this mechanism, it is of little use to restrict transfers from minors’ wallets to betting sites. The money they transfer to bet is a simple transfer to an individual. In the Argentine Fintech Chamber they explore the possibility that the same technological tools that prevent fraud and scams, some through the use of artificial intelligence, can serve to stop recurring betting payments made by a minor, or at least to alert their parents.
“Many young people access legal platforms through money transfers in virtual wallets. For this reason, we request that measures be taken from the virtual wallet platform to prevent the entry of minors into the universe of gaming and betting and to prevent the financing and proliferation of clandestine online casinos,” stated the letter signed by the national deputies Hernan Reyes, Maricel Etchecoin Moor, Marcela Campagnoli, Monica Frade, Facundo Del Gaiso, Cecilia Ferrero and Maria Pace Wells.
The letter, addressed to Bausili and a group of 33 virtual wallets –such as Mercado Pago, Ualá and Modo– to take measures that provide “greater control over money flows directed to casino platforms and online betting houses.” They also highlighted that “cashiers” usually receive microtransactions constantly, in the form of chips for each bet, which can help find mechanisms for their detection.
This is not the first time that gambling addiction has crossed the path of the financial system. Years ago, institutions dedicated to the prevention of gambling addiction warned about the seriousness of the existence of ATMs inside bingo halls and casinos, which facilitated the temptation to continue betting without limits. Many provinces decided to act in this regard and prohibited the installation of ATMs in those areas.
