A report from Paysafe has underlined the key element of an efficient payment journey when it comes to customer conversion and acquisition.
The firm argued that as sponsorship frameworks tighten and marketing becomes a more abstract and challenging prospect, the potential payments hold in terms of bolstering customer acquisition is vital.
It emphasised that ‘play starts with pay’ as one of the first touchpoints for many players is the payment process.
Specifically in European markets, payouts are almost as crucial for commencing the customer experience – with 35 per cent of UK players prioritising brand trust (35 per cent) when choosing an operator, however, payouts are almost as essential a factor, prioritised by 27 per cent.
Furthermore, the report detailed that the strong correlation between the availability of a player’s preferred payment method and converting them underlines that operators need to offer as broad a range of transactional options as possible.
In his blog post, Zak Cutler, Paysafe’s President Global Gaming, commented: “Of course, every customer experience ultimately starts with a deposit,” he said. “Given players’ prioritisation of rapid deposits, all payment methods they integrate should be evaluated according to their speed at funding a wager.”
“Although the Premier League’s front-of-shirt ban is two years away, it’s payments rather than sponsorships that mark the real start of players’ customer experiences with sportsbooks.
“In the countdown to Euro 2024 and Paris 2024 this summer, the best time for operators to optimise their payment stack is now.”
Back in April 2023, the government published the UK Gambling Act review White Paper, a planned overhaul of the country’s gaming legislation.
A flagship proposal of the White Paper is the introduction of ‘finance risk checks’, referred to as ‘affordability checks’ by many stakeholders and observers.
What will be key for the UK market is ensuring that checks avoid being intrusive, embodying just how crucial it is for operators to collaborate with the payment industry.
