The most common questions about iGaming payments

A comprehensive guide to understanding everything you need to know about payments in the iGaming space.

This article explores how payment work in the iGaming sector (online gaming and gambling), key considerations and how iGaming operators can choose the right payment provider to fit their needs.

We cover:

• What are the most common payment methods in the iGaming sector?
• What is the importance of local payment methods in the iGaming sector?
• What are the average processing times for iGaming deposits and withdrawals?
• What are the fees for processing iGaming payments?
• How do iGaming operators manage payments from different countries and currencies?
• What is transaction success rate?
• What security features are in place for iGaming payments?
• What help is available for iGaming operators around regulation?
• How can a payment provider help your iGaming business?
• How do iGaming operators choose the right payment provider?

1. What are the most common payment methods in the iGaming sector?

All types of payment methods are common in the iGaming sector, ranging from payment cards and bank transfers to digital wallets.

The player demographic and country influences the choice of payment method. Some players may be younger and may not have a payment card, so tend to pay using PayPal or digital wallets.

Gambling on a credit card is not permitted everywhere, so niche e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill are also common ways to fund iGaming and online gambling accounts.

2. What is the importance of local payment methods in the iGaming sector?

Local payment methods are popular in the iGaming sector, as they are in almost every online sector, because there’s no global way to pay.

Even card brands that have spent decades building their acceptance networks only represent around 32% of global e-commerce transaction values. This is predicted to fall to 26% by 2026, according to card acquirer Worldpay.

So, local payment methods, sometimes also known as alternative payment methods (APMs), are important in the iGaming sector. ‘Alternative’ is a misnomer as these bank transfers, digital wallets and prepaid vouchers are mainstream ways to pay in many markets.

Customers are not likely to do something different just to play on your site. So, iGaming operators with cross-border expansion plans are advised to consider how to combine their global growth ambitions with local payment preferences.

3. What are the average processing times for iGaming deposits and withdrawals?

Historically, average pay-in times to an iGaming account have been quicker than payouts. That’s due to how card schemes and correspondent banking work behind the scenes.

While pay-ins could be on the player’s account almost instantly, payouts could take up to 2-3 days, sometimes longer.

Deposit and withdrawals times have become a competitive differentiator for iGaming operators, both for attracting new customers and increasing player retention.

Some providers – like Inpay – can now make real-time pay-ins and payouts. That means players can deposit and withdraw funds within seconds 24/7/365.

On the Inpay network, payments take place between participant members, so funds never leave the network. They’re simply re-routed to another account internally, which happens in real time.

4. What are the fees for processing iGaming payments?

Simply put: the fees for processing iGaming payments depend on the payment provider.

Generally, iGaming operators should consider the transaction fees for deposits, withdrawals and currency conversions. Are there any minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts, daily/weekly/monthly caps, or chargeback fees or charges related to disputed payments?

Looking beyond transaction processing costs, establish whether there are any setup or maintenance fees for integrating the payment service. Are there any hidden costs or charges for add-on services that your business may or may not need?

Finally, work out how competitive the fees are compared to other providers. Are there discounts based on volume? Or any ancillary benefits, the value of which are difficult to calculate but are nonetheless important to capture? For example, consolidating capabilities and providers to lower costs, free up data and gain better insights.

5. How do iGaming operators manage payments from different countries and currencies?

iGaming operators can partner with cross-border payment processors to manage payments from different countries and currencies.

Such payment providers specialize in aggregating multiple international payments and currencies into a single platform. For example, Inpay offers faster, smarter, more secure cross-border payment across 200+ payout countries in 90+ currencies through a single integration.

Localizing the checkout experience – displaying payment amounts in the player’s local currency, offering local payment methods and supporting local languages – helps iGaming operators reach more customers globally.

Localization boosts players’ confidence to transact and consequently conversion rates. And helps iGaming operators increase revenue, cut integration and other costs and improve business.

6. What is transaction success rate?

The transaction success rate is the number of attempted transactions that are completed successfully. This is usually expressed as a percentage. For example, Inpay has an industry-leading transaction success rate of 99%.

7. What security features are in place for iGaming payments?

Payment providers ensure secure iGaming payments using encryption and tokenization technology to render payment data unintelligible, if intercepted.

They also deploy anti-fraud tools to protect against first- and third-party fraud. For example, AI-assisted fraud detection and multi-factor authentication.

They must comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations. In a B2B model, the provider does due diligence on their customer (the iGaming operator). Operators manage the financial crime risks of their players.

Payment providers must also guard against cyberattacks and other service disruptions. Plus, be operationally solid, with sufficient capacity to cope with fluctuating volumes in the run-up to big events and sporting fixtures.

8. What help is available for iGaming operators around regulation?

iGaming operators should assess whether a prospective payment provider is comfortable and conversant with gambling regulations in different jurisdictions.

Moreover, how can they help with regulatory requirements around GDPR, PSD2 or AML (anti-money laundering) requirements? Can they support age verification and responsible gaming provisions?

Trust and reputation in regulated sectors are difficult to acquire and maintain and built up over time. Over the last 16 years, Inpay has become one of iGaming’s most trusted payments providers, serving some of the industry’s most complex corridors and customer needs.

Inpay powers a quarter of iGaming’s Power50, has processed around 1.2 billion transactions, and is regulated by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA). Its AML, CTF and KYC policies, procedures and controls are bank-grade, and exceed anti-financial crime requirements set out under Danish and EU law.

9. How can a payment provider help your iGaming business?

The right payment provider can help iGaming businesses deliver a positive player experience, value-for-money, smooth transactions and maximum conversion rates:

• Speed – When customer acquisition costs are high and regular players particularly prized, payment speed matters. Global pay-ins should be as quick and simple as local bank transfers. The same is true of payouts, delivering funds players in real time.
• Value – Account-to-account (A2A) bank transfers cut out the middlemen. This makes them cheaper than debits or original credits to a payment card account. What’s more there’s no concept of card interchange, chargebacks or PCI DSS, or the associated costs.
• Convenience – Everyone likes things that are the least hassle. It’s the same for iGaming cardless payouts and pay-ins. There’s no need to top up wallets or enter card details. That makes it more convenient for those gaming on mobile phones and tablets, plus increases conversion for operators.
• Choice – Not everyone has, uses or trusts cards for online payment. If operators want to avoid losing potential sign-ups and sales, they must offer more payment choice. Local payment and cardless account-to-account options show that operators are open for business worldwide.

10. How do iGaming operators choose the right payment provider?

When choosing a payment provider and devising an RFP (request for proposal), iGaming operators should satisfy themselves that at a minimum the provider is able to:

• Support a wide variety of different local and regional payment methods
• Process payments quickly and reliably
• Offer a value-for-money service
• Handle multiple currencies
• Protect iGaming operators against security breaches, cyberattacks and disruption
• Comply with relevant regulations