Equipping your business with suitable payment options
Offering various payment methods is no longer an advantage of your business, this is what you have to do in order to be competitive. Payment solutions are the entry point for customers and therefore require close attention. This is quite relevant if you target an audience under 35, as this user segment actively uses online payments. This equally applies to the iGaming industry, as such users make up the majority of regular players.
After the pandemic, growth rates of online payments in established markets have slowed down, while new markets have started their development. These include Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The inflow of capital and technological uplift in these countries is opened new opportunities. Payment solutions, in turn, also changed and for iGaming business poses a real gamechanger — they can help to grow or complicate operations.
Today's article will be a guide, where we explain how to ensure that payment systems help you offer are best to your clients. Well, we recommend this plan:
Analyze operational markets
The first step is research. Before diving into any desired market, you need to clearly understand what to expect and prepare for. The legal stance of iGaming industry can vary depending on country your business is targeting. Online casinos are an interesting case, as laws change in response to the growth of the industry, and around 25 countries have already legalized online casinos in recent years. Some of them did not even consider this move, until illegal gambling reached the country. It’s really difficult to find equally dynamic industry. This is one of main reasons of the complexity in using payment methods in these regions.
Since not all payment methods will always be available to you, especially if you have not yet legalized your business in the country, it is even more important. Additionally, operational market will determine the set of payment methods you will need, as well as affect tax rates and the amounts required to obtain the appropriate registration for legal operation.
Previously, the top 1 destination for iGaming business — Curaçao island — was the best solution for many and allowed operations without strong regulations and tax regimes. However, with the introduction of LOK, new laws bring many changes for operators. And not everyone is ready to accept them. Anjouan license has become an excellent alternative and is already gaining popularity. In response to this, payment systems have also started to restructure and change their requirements for merchants. All this only confirms how much the industry can change over a short time, and therefore you don’t want to miss anything.
If you are at the very beginning of your journey in iGaming, never skip the stage of researching payment solutions. Questions of "what," "where," and "for how much" you can get are fundamental before starting business activity.
Study your target audience
The second step is to know better your potential user. Although understanding the regulatory and financial aspects is critically important, but study the cultures, habits, and preferences of target market is no less matters. For example, clients in Europe choose businesses that have integrated European payment methods into their platforms. A 2021 study showed that 44% of surveyed Europeans preferred to pay online using card payments, and 42% using other European methods.
Another example is Kazakhstan, and here, users more often choose mobile payments and e-wallets instead of credit cards. Knowing this, you can adapt your website to relevant needs of your audience and be ready to offer them the best options. Otherwise, you lose users simply because not all of them will be able to find suitable payment methods.
Do not limit yourself to the basics; study entire market and offer additional new payment methods, growing e-wallets, or crypto options. However, do not strive to build an "international format” website as it is simply does not exist. It is impossible to be perfect for everyone at the same time, as most jurisdictions are very different. That is why you need quality analytics and a market snapshot. And you can always contact Monoup for consulting assistance on this matter.
Check available options for yourself
After choosing markets of operation and studying demographic data of target audience, the next step is building structure of your online business. For online games, some choose White Label option, which allows for a faster launch, especially in new markets, and is often already integrated with various payment gateways.
At the same time, Turnkey solutions for gaming projects offer much more customization, allowing you to add branding elements and make your website stand out among competitors. Operators using Turnkey solutions are fully responsible for all aspects of business, including integration of payment solutions. Those who work under White Label licenses usually receive a set of ready-made services and payment integrations, and technical details are handled by the provider. This can have both advantages and disadvantages. However, we would note a number of disadvantages. This structure typically lacks flexibility and speed of decision-making, which are crucial for payment system workflow.
Integration of payment systems can be a lengthy process, and with White Label it can be even longer. As White Label setup involves separate company with own rules that can slower down your own product growth.
Integrate PSP providers
After completing the structure building, you can accurately assess which payment system are available to you and select suitable ones for integration. When the payment gateway is tested with initial payment methods, you can gradually add other options. For example, returning to the case with the EU, system can include payment methods such as open banking or international options like Skrill.
We recommend building the integration process based on priorities and capabilities of your team so that the project goes live with ready-made payment methods and can meet the needs of players.
Evaluate the result
Finally, you need to understand how well everything works. Rarely we can achieve perfect result from the first try, so we recommend conducting stress tests and measuring the effectiveness of your payment structure.
The main indicator is the payment approval ratio, which has normal values for regions and payment methods. Is your number within the normal figures or significantly below?
At the same time, analyze approval rates not once a week or month as a regular check, but do it constantly. This way, you can track any fluctuations and identify their causes. And if something goes wrong, you may step for changes straight away.
At the end, we agree that providing suitable payment options is not something new and we are talking about it just because of that! It is not always obvious that you cannot use the same payment gateway for all countries. Each region has its own local payment methods that work more effectively.
At Monoup, we help online businesses create UX/UI for payments tailored to your needs and your users. In addition, we create stable payment processes and select suitable solutions. This requires a professional approach if you want to start operating quickly and efficiently. Contact us via website or email for additional information.
