EGR Power Latam Summit 2025: Day 1 debate on retention, UX, regulation

By

EGR Power Latam Summit 2025: Day 1 debate on retention, UX, regulation

The opening session of the EGR Power Latam Summit 2025 reached a unanimous conclusion among operators, providers, and legal experts: retention and user experience will be the central pillars of iGaming growth in Latin America, especially given the regulatory maturity of the Brazilian market.

The talk “Retention strategies in diverse markets: building loyal customer bases in LATAM in line with regulatory evolution” brought together Muriel Le Senechal (Fast Track), João Alves (SeguroBet), Beatriz Salles (BetConstruct) and moderator Witoldo Hendrich Junior (Hendrich Advogados / Online IPS Brazil). The panel addressed the immediate challenges faced by operators and providers amid rising acquisition costs, the need for advanced personalization, and the demand for instant response functionalities.

User experience: the turning point in loyalty

For Muriel Le Senechal, the core of retention lies not in branding but in the quality of the experience: “The player remembers a good experience before a brand. Real-time work is no longer a differentiator: it is a necessity for any operator wanting to compete in the region.”

The executive emphasized that the main bottleneck is not the available technologies, but the lack of operational training:

“Not all teams are prepared to work in real time. You have to design flows, triggers, and processes that allow action within seconds based on what the client does.”

Brazil: acquisition through the roof, retention as survival

The CMO of SeguroBet, João Alves, explained the drastic shift in the country’s commercial equation:

“Acquisition costs in Brazil have skyrocketed to limit levels. The only way to maintain profitability is to optimize retention.”

According to Alves, the ecosystem has left behind the stage where operators could absorb inefficiencies because acquisition costs were low:

“Today, every poorly designed process destroys profitability. Retention has gone from being important to being the heart of the operation.”

Providers are also transforming: regulation, product, and predictive models

The representative of BetConstruct, Beatriz Salles, delved into how regulatory changes in Brazil completely altered the role of platform providers:

“The product is today the main tool for success. The elimination of promotional bonuses forced operators to seek new ways of loyalty. Our challenge is to deliver predictive technology that helps identify behaviors and offer the right promotion to the right player.”

Salles emphasized that the new era of CRM no longer involves “making a product per country,” but rather creating personas and profiles, with dynamic segmentation:

“The challenge is not to personalize by region, but to personalize by individual: tone, content, offer, timing, and channel. With predictive models, we can anticipate which action will have an impact on each client.”

The battle for immediacy: withdrawals, deposits, and zero friction

One of the most discussed topics was the explosive increase in transactions in Brazil: small, frequent, and with high speed expectations.

According to Alves: “A positive experience depends on the product, but above all on how we design internal processes. A withdrawal must be credited almost in real time. That determines whether a client stays or leaves.”

Muriel reinforced the idea, highlighting the importance of automated triggers: “In every player action, we have an opportunity to reinforce a positive experience. The difference between a bad, good, or excellent experience lies in acting within seconds.”

Brazil: a unique player in the world and a year “that was worth five”

Regarding the first operational year under regulation, Salles was categorical: “It has been an extremely intense year. The Brazilian player is demanding, impatient, and extremely knowledgeable about the product.”

A fact revealed by the executive surprised the audience: “A Brazilian player makes almost 10 times more transactions per minute than a player from the United Kingdom.”

However, she clarified that this does not imply higher profitability, but rather higher operational costs and more robust infrastructure: “There are many transactions of very low value. They generate enormous pressure on systems, processes, payments, and risk.”

Competition is no longer just among operators: the enemy is the user’s budget

Alves summarized the competitive landscape with a phrase that resonated strongly: “We don’t just compete among operators. We compete against the client’s total entertainment budget.”

Streaming, video games, financial apps, social platforms, and micropayments coexist in the same wallet as sports betting.

Looking ahead: regulation, innovation, and technological realism

Salles closed with a key reflection: “We can’t talk about the metaverse or VR when we haven’t yet solved connection stability or when the devices most used by clients are not appropriate. First, we have to align the product with market reality.”

The panel agreed that the Latin American industry, and Brazil in particular, will move toward:


Conclusion

The first day of the EGR Power Latam Summit 2025 confirmed that the era of easy growth is over. With acquisition costs at record levels, strict regulation, and a more demanding player than ever, LatAm enters a phase where retention, supported by technology, processes, and experience, will be the dividing line between scaling up or disappearing.

Tags: Brasil, EGR Latam Summit 2025