PAYSAFE
The state of play for online gambling payments in the UK
Zak Cutler, president of global gaming at Paysafe, highlights the increasing role of payments in acquisition and retention opportunities in the UK market, and what players are looking for in their payment experience.
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n today’s highly competitive iGaming market, to maximise acquisition and retention opportunities in the UK, it’s vital that operators understand player expectations and ensure they not only meet but exceed them. It’s clear that payments can make a difference here, by enticing a player to wager with a brand and to stay with them.
The extent of the role that payments can play in player acquisition can be seen in the findings from Paysafe’s latest ‘All the ways players pay’ research report, which surveyed online sports bettors from the UK, as well as the US and the Canadian province of Ontario, at the end of last year. In the UK, the research found that four out of ten players place cashing-out quicky and easily as the top determining factor when choosing which online brand to bet with. Seamless, frictionless payouts came out above the other choices of a sportsbook being a brand they could trust (35%), solid odds (31%) and good promotional offers (31%). Furthermore, the ability to use their preferred payment method and quick and easy deposits were important to over a quarter of players (26% and 27% respectively).
These figures indicate that it’s vital for operators to offer the payment experience that players are seeking to both attract and retain players, starting with the payment methods they want to use to deposit and withdraw.
HOW PLAYERS ARE CHOOSING TO PAY
It may come as little surprise that debit cards are the payment method of choice in the UK market, with 59% of players saying it is their go-to when making a deposit. This is followed by payments made via bank transfer (30%), closely followed by mobile wallets (28%).
The use of digital wallets is also on the rise among UK players, with 22% putting solutions such as Skrill and NETELLER first as their method of choice. This will almost certainly be connected to players’ preference for quick and easy deposit payments and fast payouts, as digital wallets provide some of the fastest transaction times of any payment method. It’s because of these reasons that it’s so important for UK operators to ensure their cashier can offer a wide range of alternative payment methods (APMs). If not, operators risk losing out to the competitors that do, and are missing out on a significant opportunity to acquire new customers. When it comes to credit card payments, despite the UK Gambling Commission’s ban on credit card payments for iGaming coming into force from April 2020, our research findings showed there is still a sizable chunk of players who are keen to make deposits using a credit card if they could – one in five, according to our data. The credit can ban in the UK certainly contributes to the broad usage of debit cards, but it has also prompted players to adopt alternative payment methods, especially if rapid transaction times and added security are particularly important to them.
THE PAYMENTS EXPECTATIONS OF UK PLAYERS
Our research also found that more than half (54%) of UK players are happy with the payment experience they are receiving. Only 14% reported feeling dissatisfied. This tells us that there’s still plenty of opportunities for operators to explore to improve player experience, and drive acquisition and retention in turn. When it comes to retaining customers, seven in ten players in the UK say a bad experience would put them off returning to a brand so it’s vital for sportsbooks to get this right.
When it comes to security, UK players place incredibly high importance on this. Two-fifths say it’s what they care about the most when making a deposit into an online sports betting account. Security is followed by speed of deposit (37%) and ease of payment (36%). Notably, over half (56%) of UK players said they would not proceed with a deposit if they were concerned about payment security, and as many as 46% say they would abandon the transaction if they felt they were being asked to provide excessive amounts of financial information.
It’s for this reason that operators need to provide the payment methods which offer the levels of security that players are looking for. In the case of digital wallets, as well as offering heightened security because the player’s financial information is not shared with the sportsbook, they provide the ease and speed of transactions that players want. Highlighting the importance of offering the player’s preferred payment method, almost half (46%) of UK players said they would not go ahead with a deposit if their go-to payment option was not available in the cashier.
THE FUTURE OF PAYMENTS IN IGAMING
It’s clear that payments are now a critical factor for UK players when deciding which online sportsbook they are going to wager at. This means an operator’s cashier holds the key to unlocking acquisition and retention at scale in this hugely competitive market. At the heart of this is the need to offer a payment stack that provides a variety of traditional and alternative payment methods, while at the same time giving players peace of mind over the security of their transactions. Sportsbook operators that can provide this, along with seamless deposits and fast payouts, are set to gain the advantage.
GIO APRIL 2023 7
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