Colombia moves to improve banking access for licensed gambling operators

Coljuegos has opened talks with Colombia’s financial supervisor to help authorised gambling operators overcome banking barriers, in a move that could strengthen the divide between regulated businesses and illegal platforms.

Coljuegos confirmed on 16 April that its president, Marco Emilio Hincapié, met with Financial Superintendent César Attilio Ferrari to analyse alternatives that would allow authorised games-of-chance operators to overcome obstacles in accessing the financial system. At this stage, the initiative is not a new banking rule or decree, but a formal coordination step between the gambling regulator and the country’s top financial supervisor.

According to Coljuegos, one of the core issues discussed was the way banks assess risk when dealing with licensed gambling companies. The regulator said financial institutions should take into account the strict administrative and oversight processes already applied by Coljuegos, including the implementation of the SARLAFT anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing risk management framework.

Hincapié framed the effort as a way to give greater certainty to authorised operators and to remove what he described as unjustified stigma around a legal industry that contributes to Colombia’s health system. In the regulator’s view, a company licensed by Coljuegos already complies with high legal and compliance standards, and that should translate into faster and more confident treatment by the banking sector.

As part of the strategy, Coljuegos proposed a specialised meeting with compliance officers from the banking system so they can better understand how the gambling sector works and what legal requirements operators must meet to obtain and keep a licence. The regulator said this technical and educational approach is intended to build trust and help banks act with greater agility when handling requests from authorised operators.

The discussion also went beyond access for legal operators and into enforcement against illegal ones. Coljuegos said the meeting laid the groundwork for coordinated work with the Superintendencia Financiera and judicial bodies to tighten control over virtual payment systems used by unauthorised online gambling websites. Hincapié said the authorities want to block the flow of resources to illegal platforms that do not contribute to public health funding and do not guarantee bettor protection.

That broader context matters in Colombia, where Coljuegos continues to publish the official list of authorised online brands and reminds consumers that only approved sites may legally take bets from players based in the country. In that sense, improving banking access for licensed operators is not only a business issue. It is also part of a wider regulatory effort to make the legal market more functional while cutting financial oxygen to unlicensed competitors.