How to measure effectives of payment system in iGaming: is it right for you?
Online casino industry has experienced rapid growth over the last three years, primarily due to the pandemic, legalization of gambling in several countries, and advancements in information technology. The list of countries where casino legislation is introduced is expanding, offering growth prospects for entire iGaming market. However, succeeding in gambling business is challenging due to intense competition, and achieving success requires significant efforts.
When exploring how to move your online casino to the top list, pay close attention to your payment infrastructure. Every casino owner seeks for a player who straightly make a deposit and dive into the world of game. However, this is only possible with a well-functioning payment system.
Understand how to evaluate the effectiveness of PSP and promptly identify any issues, considering these:
Approval ratio
Of course, we start from approval ratio. This metrics is a foundation for assessing payment system performance. Approval ratio clearly illustrates the quantity of successful payments out of all attempts made on the website. It provides valuable information to the merchant about quality of system's operation and target audience's interest in play. Approval ration should be measured 24/7 without interruption. Each payment method has its own benchmark figures to aim for, as well as indicators that signal when adjustments are needed.
You should at least measure approval ratio separately by:
- Card type and payment method. To do this, transactions through a specific type of card or electronic wallet are monitored along with reasons for rejected transactions. This helps to determine the most popular payment methods for online casinos and primarily offer them to players;
- Region. Sharp drops in approval ratio in particular region may indicate local issues or changes in gateway regulations. You should never measure approval ratio “for the entire business on average.” This indicator will not contribute in any way to the real situation assessment.
Always keep a close eye on the flow, as improper handling of payment process is not just about a high volume of lost transactions and low approval ratio. It can also seriously impact profit and licensing of your online casino.
Failed payments reasons
Understanding the reasons behind failed payment attempts is something that must be in your to-do list, if you own online casino or sportsbook. The more insight you have into why a player's payment attempt was unsuccessful, the better your chances of rectifying the issue and successfully processing deposit on the next attempt. Payment systems or acquiring bank can help to analyze the real reasons of failed payments. Establishing a procedure for checking these reasons, or ideally, automating the receipt of detailed explanations via API would greatly help in a long run.
While not all high-risk payment systems support detailed API status sharing, it doesn't mean there are no way to obtain this information. Moreover, diving deeper into each problem is important, as general error like “Declined before 3DS” can hold multiple meanings and often misinterpreted if not analyzed thoroughly. Being just aware of the number of unsuccessful transactions is not enough. You need also to work continuously on reducing their percentage.
Regional factor
Understanding your players and their habits, including payment behaviors always pays off with a good payment metrics. In some regions, users prefer to pay immediately, while in others, they may delay payment. For example, making a bank transfer 20 minutes after receiving the payment link. This behavior is particularly noticeable in Latin America, where too short payment timeout does not give players enough time for completing the transfer. Simply because they are not in a hurry.
In some countries, people are more meticulous and accustomed to specific payment rules, while in others, habits are entirely different.
Such patterns are especially clear with an example of P2P payments, especially in CIS countries. When the quality of payment page and instructions can nearly determine the entire success of the transaction. Although it's an exaggerated comparison with card acquiring, nuances of the country where your project operates are very relevant details. Neglecting these regional aspects would be a significant mistake.
The presence or absence of a license in the market is also an important factor when choosing payment systems. While licensed operators might offer more stable solutions than those operating in grey zone, the latter still attract players. Then working on improving conversion rates and developing regional strategies becomes a real priority.
Technical factor
Payment processing in online casinos and sportsbooks must be quick and user — friendly, because any constant delays in processing can negatively impact players' interest to continue gaming and their loyalty to the platform. This necessitates special attention to examine and test both the payment flow and its technical aspects.
Firstly, payment technology used should demonstrate a high-quality approach to the service. Using software that fails to meet necessary standards is not something that you can afford in today’s world. Attempting to patch or refine substandard software can be time-consuming and ultimately inefficient. Even if such product is offered at a lower price, your time costs much more, taking into account potential issues in the future.
Moreover, integration of payment systems and their updates should be straightforward for experienced professionals. Payment products generally strive towards universally accepted standards and methodologies, simplifying their use for merchants and making the process more transparent for all involved parties.
Lastly, thorough testing before launch is imperative. Even the simplest mechanisms can fail, and if a failure is due to a technical glitch, it directly impacts the merchant's reputation. It's particularly unfortunate to lose users due to an oversight that could have been identified and resolved through adequate testing. Therefore, lack of testing or insufficient quality assurance procedures can be considered significant mistakes on the side of the merchant.
Behavioral analysis and micro-conversions
Don’t forget that all visitors of your gambling platform are human, with unique behavioral characteristics. By stepping back from standard technical terms and focusing on these behavioral aspects of your audience, you can uncover reasons for approval ratio fluctuations that aren't related to payment system.
Approval ratio may fluctuate on certain days or at specific time of the day. It can also vary across different payment methods and is significantly influenced by your product. To successfully secure deposit, it's not enough to just take users to the payment page; you need to engage them with your offer and encourage to complete payment. It happens that an intrusive pop-up distracted player from making a payment, or too much of offers caused immediate confusion, leading them to reconsider engaging with your platform.
Competitors sending out more attractive bonus offers at the same moment player is on payment page might also influence user decisions. Although this is harder to track. However, you can track potential gaps and reasons for decreased approval ratios caused by your product itself. This is where tracking “micro-conversions” becomes crucial. Analyze the paths users walk on your website and how they relate to the target action — making a deposit. How many users make a deposit after visiting the bonus page? What about after trying a demo slot? Or do most drop off after certain events? Tracking these connections requires robust analytics and skilled professionals.
This deeper analysis falls under the category of “digging deeper”, which is what we advise — conducting a multi-layered analysis will lead to better outcomes. Specialists from Monoup can assist you in fine-tuning all financial operations so that nothing stops your iGaming project on the way to market success. We can provide ready-to-use, tested solutions or support in creating your own unique mechanisms.
