The iGaming industry has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 90s. Today, it’s one of the fastest-growing industries on the planet, with annual revenue of $66.7 billion in 2020, according to Statista. In the UK, online gaming rose to £5.7 billion according to data from 2020. It is now on par with the film and music industry regarding market size and revenue generation.
As iGaming continues to grow, the industry is concerned with security on all fronts – we’ll be discussing the main payment trends shaping the future of iGaming.
What is iGaming?
iGaming, or online betting, is part of the natural evolution of the gaming industry online once technology facilitated the transition. Online betting is primarily done in online casinos, video games and sportsbooks. The iGaming market is growing globally, but Malta, Gibraltar, and the UK are its main hubs.
Why Malta?
From game developers, operators, and platform providers to brand curators and affiliate companies, many businesses from every sector of the iGaming industry come together in Malta. Bringing in a melting pot of entrepreneurs and unique talents and resources.
iGaming is responsible for 12% of Malta’s GDP. Regulation is relaxing in the UK (Northern Ireland) and the US, and new elements such as virtual reality, esports and blockchain boost innovation in this industry.
Malta is also the host of SiGMA, one of the most important iGaming events in the world. A favourable tax regime boosts this for iGaming and the fact that Malta is a European Union member and the first EU member to regulate online gaming in 2004. It benefits from the free movement of services and money laundering safeguards, which offers trust. As a result, the industry enjoys low taxes related to online gaming.
Recent trends have shown that mobile gaming has now taken 45% of the world gaming market, with a sudden shift from gaming consoles to smartphones. Malta’s laws make no distinction between gaming services provided between online, mobile, digital, or electronic forms.
Keeping your payments secure in iGaming
Security is essential in this highly competitive industry, which is a prime candidate for cyber-attacks and fraudulent payments. Here are the steps companies in iGaming can take to protect their customers:
1) Consider accepting crypto payments
Cryptocurrency payments are becoming more popular in the online gambling sector. This is driven by consumer demand as they feel crypto offers an increased level of privacy in their financial transactions.
As a result, merchants in the gaming industry are actively integrating crypto payment options as a depositing/withdrawal method for users. Digital currencies bypass the barriers associated with traditional currencies, like conversion and transfer time. Most of the processes are real-time, automated, and secure.
At Trust Payments, we support BitPay, the payment service that allows online gaming operators to accept Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies deposits and offer bank account settlements in multiple currencies.
2) Ensure Player Data Safety
Data leakage is one of the critical safety issues of online casino gaming. Hackers are actively discovering new strategies for infiltrating networks. Besides siphoning sensitive data, hackers are also involved in direct electronic money theft from online gamblers.
Many reputable online casinos can use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect their players’ money and personal information. But the safest way to ensure that their data is encrypted and secure is to integrate a payment gateway with an added layer of security.
Using a provider that offers real-time fraud protection capabilities to stop fraud in its tracks is ideal. At Trust Payments, we offer real-time risk management and fraud detection and enhanced 3D Secure 2 (3DS2) authentication as part of our eCommerce solutions to prevent any cyberattacks or fraud in real-time while giving your iGaming customers a safe and streamlined payments experience.
3) Provide a seamless registration process
As payment technologies evolve, the boundaries between user accounts and payments are blurring in iGaming. Open Banking facilitates a better onboarding experience for customers by offering them ownership of their financial transaction data and giving them control over how and with whom it is shared.
It allows customers to link their betting account to their bank, which is set up in minutes as they can securely connect their bank account to the gaming operator account through an open API. This is straightforward and secure for customers, as they don’t have to reveal their login details to anyone else other than their bank. Additionally, the gaming operator can identify the individual from the name on the customer’s bank account.
Having received the customer’s bank details in this very secure way, it is also possible for the gaming operator to effect electronic pay-outs without requiring further customer information.
The customer never has to enter their own bank details or even the gaming operator’s bank details. Where the customer authenticates themselves to their bank app using biometrics, e.g., a fingerprint, the process of topping up their gaming accounts or making one-off payments becomes even more straightforward.
Some gaming operators may even go further and use Open Banking to analyse customer bank balances and transactions to help them bet responsibly. This can only be done with the customer’s consent and keeps them in control of their data while quickly providing access to selected third parties.
At Trust Payments, we are working towards offering open banking services through our platform in the near future. In the meantime, we are supporting our gaming customers with the most common Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) to help operators meet the specific needs of their customers’ local markets: Apple Pay, American Express, Bancontact, BitPay, eps-Überweisung, giropay, iDEAL, Mastercard, Multibanco, MyBank, paysafecard, PayU, Przelewy24, Visa, PayPal, SafetyPay, SEPA Direct Debit and Sofort.
Looking forward
As iGaming evolves to meet customers’ needs, an intelligent payments solution can make all the difference to your business profitability and growth. It will help you implement instant pay-in and pay-out capabilities to avoid customer churn. At, Trust Payments we have over 15 years of experience in the gaming industry and are best placed to assist operators with their payment processing, security, and compliance needs.
