Much has been said about the change of operator of Baloto, however, recently this change received another blow that does not go very well for the beginning of its operation. Baloto will break relations with different entities to which it served as collector or banking correspondent.
In the last few days, entities such as Colpatria and EPM (biggest Colombian company of public services) informed the public that until yesterday the commercial relationship with Baloto was maintained.
"Scotiabank Colpatria informs that from May 24, 2022 the VIA Baloto channel will cease to provide services for payments, collections, deposits, payment pins, withdrawals and other transactions," the bank informed all its users.
The situation has already caused complaints from some users of the service who are affected by the decision, since in some areas of the country, such as Barranquilla, the entity has reduced its presence with fewer offices so that customers "today have nowhere to go to deposit", said Camilo Torres, a user of the service in Atlántico.
EPM, for its part, also announced that it will no longer receive utility payments by this means.
"As of next Wednesday, May 25, no Baloto point nationwide will be enabled to attend collections of EPM services".
The EPM Group explained that this situation was generated by internal processes of the company IGT Colombia Ltda., which operated the platform of the Baloto-Revancha game of chance.
"It is important to highlight that, as of May 25, none of the transactions associated to public services with EPM, made through the Baloto collection channels and points, will be applied or credited to the invoices," it reiterated to all its users.
Online payment companies have started to replicate this behavior. Companies such as ePayco, have sent an email informing their users that they will also stop receiving or disabling the Baloto payment method, affecting hundreds of thousands of electronic businesses in the country.
"Taking into account that Coljuegos selected a new operator for the game of luck and chance "BALOTO", whose change implies the non-provision of collection and withdrawal services in the Via Baloto network from May 24, 2022 at 23:59." Communicated ePayco to its users.
In Tolima, the company Celsia also announced that its users will no longer be able to pay their bill at the Baloto points as from May 25.
Even Air-e, a company dedicated to the provision of electric energy public services in 3 departments, Atlántico, La Guajira and Magdalena, will not continue receiving payments through Baloto either.
"As a consequence of the decision taken by Coljuegos with the new Baloto operator, the collection contract was terminated and therefore our clients can access the large collection network that the company currently has, including our own collection points," said its commercial manager, Claudia Gómez.
This means that Baloto loses one of its strongest sources of income for its operation, with a domino effect affecting millions of citizens in different parts of the country.
