Global Gaming Awards

Countless transactions are currently taking place all over the world, and it’s all over in the blink of an eye. But where does your money go? Who deals with it? How does it get to the right place?

PAYMENTS IN KIND

Peter Lynch delves further into the world of gaming payments with the help of several payments specialists, who provide their expert analysis in this booming sector

Amit Klatchko Gemma Jones Christopher Justice

Payments. One short word, but one that comprises a whole host of issues and concepts that we don’t ever take a minute to consider, such is our preoccupation with getting what we pay for immediately. Countless transactions are currently taking place all over the world, and it’s all over in the blink of an eye. But where does your money go? Who deals with it? How does it get to the right place?

Fortunately, several payments companies are on hand to answer these questions and more, and explain just how important a role such companies play within the gaming industry, as well as touching on the main issues they deal with on a day-to-day basis, such as security and variety. And with a pandemic continuing to frustrate many within the industry and indeed throughout the globe, the future of gaming payments is also explored by our experts.

PAYMENT VARIETY

Variety is undoubtedly key to the success of countless industries, and with increasing customer demand across each and every vertical, the gaming industry is certainly no different. Variety within payments in gaming is subsequently as important as ever, a notion shared by both John Mallia, Gaming Accounts Team Manager at Trustly, and Zak Cutler, CEO of North America iGaming division at Paysafe.

According to Mallia, such variety is imperative in order to deliver the best possible user journey. “As we consistently see in our own research, players have different payment preferences depending on which country they are in and what payment methods are available,” he says. “We are seeing an ongoing shift where open banking is constantly growing and taking over more traditional types of payment methods such as cards and wallets. Making sure that you offer the right type of payment method and one which is trusted and delivers the best user journey is imperative.”

Such an approach, adds Mallia, “not only helps with acquiring users, but also with extracting the maximum value in the most efficient manner. In such a competitive market and with everyone striving to be the best, ensuring that you are at the head of the queue is a necessity, not a luxury.”

And for Cutler, “offering payment variety gives players choice when faced with a credit or debit card decline,” which he describes is an ongoing albeit improving issue in the US market. “A brand with a range of alternative as well as traditional payment methods is more likely to appeal to every player profile,” he adds. “For example, sports bettors who prefer using cash offline are more likely to choose and remain with a brand offering eCash for online wagering.”

Research from Paysafe from May 2021 showed that digital wallets are the preferred online payment method of global consumers (40%) after credit and debit cards, drawing a conclusion that “iGaming brand with a digital wallet is going to maximise customer stickiness and therefore its overall revenue and growth.”

But what does all this variety actually mean for payments companies? Well, it means adapting to the rapidly moving global gaming market, which is undoubtedly easier said than done. When Gambling Insider