Online gambling is a high-risk industry.
The payment gateway then processes the transaction and transfers the amount to the merchant account. An online casino payment gateway works on similar lines, albeit with some differences. First of all, gamers will use the payment gateway in order to deposit money in their own accounts. Online gambling platforms are considered a profitable business that allows merchants to earn a significant profit. Operating an online casino is becoming more convenient, so it has become easy to open your own online gambling business. However, there are still many details that need to be worked out.
However, as each country has its own gambling regulations, numerous companies exist in the space who provide legit services to customers under a licensed business.
Due to proper regulation in multiple countries and innovative features among online gambling services, the industry is expected to grow to nearly $950 billion by 2021.
And it's no wonder. Gaming – such as betting, casino, bingo, lottery, and poker – has always been a ludicrous business.
With online gambling platforms and mobile applications, people can do such activities from the convenience of their homes, presenting even larger profits for the service providers.
However, when it comes to accepting payments, online gaming merchants often struggle with finding a reliable payment gateway.
In this article, we will take a deep-dive into this topic to explore the payment solutions online gambling services can use to accept transactions from customers.
STICPAY is a great example of the above-mentioned payment services as the award-winning e-wallet solution accepts merchant applications from high-risk industries like gambling, forex, and binary options while offering them business-friendly fees and convenient service.
It’s crucial to mention that – despite that STICPAY accepts merchant applications from high-risk industries like online gaming – we only work with licensed businesses that are complying with the regulatory laws of relevant nations.
Merchant Issues: Online Gambling and Payment Gateways
Despite the huge growth of the online gambling industry, service providers face multiple challenges when looking to set up a merchant account at payment gateways.
In brief, a payment gateway is a solution that bridges the gap between the customer and the service. After successful payment, the gateway charges the user's credit card (or another payment method) and transfers the funds to the merchant's account.
As payment gateways seek to keep their reputation at high levels, many of the service providers refuse to accept merchant applications from high-risk industries.
In general, online gambling is considered as a high-risk business activity due to various reasons.
First, most online gaming businesses have a high-volume turnover, which could raise some flags at payment service providers.
Also, as online gambling is a ludicrous industry, cybercriminals are actively targeting both service providers and end-users, with a wide range of tactics. This includes using stolen credit cards, creating multiple accounts, as well as utilizing strategies like gaming and chip dumping to cheat the system and help a player to win.
Furthermore, as the stakes are high, gamblers who have lost money on online gaming platforms have a high potential of launching chargebacks without a valid reason against service providers.
As payment gateways don't like merchants that are increasingly exposed to fraud, a high rate of chargebacks, and accept payments in high volumes in short periods, most of the service providers will decline the applications of online gambling businesses.
Since their applications have been rejected by the greatest share of service providers, online gaming businesses are often forced to choose a high-risk payment gateway to accept transactions from customers.
While these service providers will allow gaming services to set up a merchant account, they will take advantage of the high-risk nature of their business, and overcharge businesses for using their solutions.
Because of the same reason, these payment gateways tend to hold onto the funds of online gambling solutions for longer periods before crediting them to their accounts.
Even when an online gambling business can cope with the high transaction fees and delayed payments, they have to choose a service provider that has built-in anti-fraud measures to avoid losing money to cybercriminals.
Payment security is also a mandatory requirement when you are looking to create a merchant account at a gateway service to ensure that the funds of your customers stay safe.
E-Wallets: Excellent Payment Solutions for Online Gaming Businesses
A great alternative for online gaming businesses to accept payments is by utilizing e-wallet services.
An e-wallet or digital wallet solution is a software-based system where users can safely store their payment information within a platform or an application.
The great difference between online payment gateways and e-wallets is that the latter services offer a more convenient, cost-efficient, and faster way for merchants to accept payments from customers.
When a user funds his online gaming account with an e-wallet, the funds will be available immediately for him to use.
Also, e-wallet service providers will process customer transactions (near-)instantly for merchants while charging more business-friendly fees than (high-risk) payment gateway solutions.
Another benefit of e-wallet solutions is that they could be easily integrated alongside other payment gateways to offer customers more choice in terms of payment.
Furthermore, e-wallet services like STICPAY utilize various anti-fraud tools and security measures to protect both the merchants and customers.
What Is STICPAY and What Benefits Does it Offer for Online Gambling Services?
STICPAY is a London-based fintech company that offers a next-generation e-wallet service to both end-users and merchants in various industries – including online gambling, eCommerce, forex, and many other sectors.
Since 2018 when the company was founded, STICPAY has won multiple awards, including Payments Awards' Best Digital Wallet 2019, Traders Awards' Best Service in Singapore 2019, and Future Digital Awards' Best Online Payments 2019.
And it's no surprise.
With a yearly growth rate of 300%, STICPAY combined the best features of e-wallets and online payment gateways to serve tens of thousands of customers and merchants worldwide as part of its revolutionary payment service.
Unlike traditional payment gateways, STICPAY accepts merchant applications from high-risk industries like online gambling without charging extra costs.
Therefore, online gaming solutions can accept payments from their customers with STICPAY in a convenient and cost-efficient way. Upon a successful transaction, the customer's payment will be instantly transferred to the merchant without any delay.
Both consumers and merchants can use several payment methods to move funds in and out of their accounts. This includes MasterCard, Visa, UnionPay China, local and international bank wires, as well as for cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Tether (USDT).
Due to the partnerships with local banks in Asia and beyond, STICPAY users can deposit and withdraw their funds quickly and cost-efficiently in eight countries. We currently support local bank wires in China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and Canada, with support for additional nations to be added soon.
For additional convenience, STICPAY users can utilize the prepaid STIC Card to withdraw or spend their funds.
Unlike our competitors, we don't restrict access to our prepaid card based on account activity. Also, we won't limit the availability of the STIC Card for only one region.
Instead, every STICPAY user that has successfully verified his KYC documents can apply for the STIC Card with equal chances, which is available for the residents of over 200 countries.
As we consider the safety of our users as our utmost priority, we have introduced a security feature set for additional protection.
Along with a regulated UK license, we store our users' funds in segregated accounts where they have uninterrupted access to them. STICPAY customers could withdraw their funds from the segregated accounts to external accounts immediately any time they wish so.
Since we know that high-risk industries like online gambling are highly targeted by cybercriminals and fraudsters, we rigorously screen both end-users and merchants, requesting relevant Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) documents from them.
In addition to requesting all the relevant documents related to a merchant’s business, STICPAY’s Compliance Team ensures the safety of e-wallet customers by actively monitoring the transactions between merchants and end-users.
Our users also benefit from STICPAY's anti-fraud measures while there is no chargeback risk for e-wallet transactions, as all funds received via our platform are 100% secure and indemnified.
The Most Popular Industries for Merchants on STICPAY
While STICPAY caters to merchants in all sectors, the most popular industries within our ecosystem are forex, eCommerce, and online gaming (including betting, casino, poker, bingo, and lottery services).
But how do merchants in different industries benefit from STICPAY's services?
With STICPAY, online gambling services can now finally set up a payment gateway to accept payments from their customers without additional fees for being in a high-risk industry.
Also, as STICPAY is vigilant to eliminate fraud with KYC and AML checks and anti-fraud measures, there is no risk of chargeback for merchants, which often presents a great problem for online gaming solutions.
Forex and binary options solutions can take advantage of the wide range of payment methods STICPAY users can utilize to deposit and withdraw funds from the platform.
Forex users and merchants can also leverage STICPAY's multi-currency feature – supporting over 33 local currencies and four cryptocurrencies – to avoid currency exchange costs.
In addition to the numerous payment methods, STICPAY charges no extra fees for cross-border transactions. Due to these features, international eCommerce stores can fulfil the needs of their customers while benefiting from higher conversion rates.
All STICPAY merchants could use STICPAY's convenient API integrations to get started with receiving online payments from their customers.
Also, as there is no redirection involved and customers need only an email and password to pay, merchants will experience high conversion rates due to the sleek STICPAY user-experience.
Start Accepting Payments for Online Gambling With STICPAY
STICPAY makes it easy for online gambling solutions to accept payments from their customers in a fast, convenient, secure, and cost-efficient way.
With no chargeback risks, high security, anti-fraud measures, and an easy application process, STICPAY is a no-brainer for online gaming solutions.
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