The betting industry continues to snowball, gaining a global scale. If earlier there were local bookmakers, where cash was the main payment method, now the era of international online betting platforms has come, where all types of payment methods are present, up to cryptocurrency. With sports betting now a digital business, online transactions became a must for merchants. Unsurprisingly, a reliable betting payment processing solution is required to handle large transaction flows from customers worldwide.
There are some reasons why sports betting is classified as a high-risk business by many banks and service providers. Among these reasons are:
Payment service providers dealing with high-risk businesses are usually more demanding and conduct a thorough business background check before entering into a contract. That’s why obtaining a merchant account for sports betting may be challenging. However, it’s still possible to find a decent payment processing for online betting business.
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Considering the global reach of sports betting, businesses need to accept and process various payment methods, from regular debit/credit cards to crypto payments. To do this, a prospective merchant needs to partner with a payment service provider who’ll provide them with software and hardware to process transactions.
The specificity of payment on betting websites lies in the concept of user deposits. First, you need to create an internal account and deposit money on it, and then you can use those funds to place bets. Bonuses and winnings will also be credited to this account. Customers are offered several options for replenishing the deposit. The most common methods are:
Although traditional bank credit cards remain the most popular payment method in sports betting, many customers and merchants prefer cryptocurrency since it makes it possible to carry out transparent transactions in large sizes. Besides processing cryptocurrency, a payment processor for sports betting must meet several criteria. For example, the processing speed of transactions must be extremely high because most of the bets take place live. Another critical factor is the security of customer data and the transfer of funds. A PCI DSS compliant processor minimises the likelihood of hacks and data leaks.
Let's take a closer look at what functions and features a payment processor should have to fit a sports betting platform.
Since betting is a high-risk industry, processing companies generally charge higher fees for the services they provide. The lion's share of the fees is associated with chargebacks, which are quite numerous in this industry. Nevertheless, some payment providers calculate costs individually, based on the number of transactions and the turnover of a particular organisation. Usually, the higher the flow and the amount of the transaction, the lower the fees.
Preferred deposit methods may differ from country to country, as will the currency. The more currencies your business accepts, the more customers you can attract. That’s why multicurrency and real-time conversion is crucial for online businesses looking to reach a global audience.
Online payments are always risky, especially in sports betting, where the transaction amount can be as high as six digits. Such large sums of money make this industry particularly vulnerable to fraud. The payment intermediary must have its own fraud monitoring system tailored to the business’s specific requirements to mitigate such risks.
During big games, when thousands of users want to place bets simultaneously, the load on the platform can be very high. The slightest malfunction on the server can lead to hundreds of failed transactions and significantly reduce your company’s reputation. That’s why you need to arm yourself with a 24/7 support team that will resolve technical issues in a matter of minutes.
Despite the "risky" category of the sports betting business, at Corefy we help high-risk merchants to accept and process any type of payments, guaranteeing top-level security and offering the most favourable conditions for cooperation. Get approved for sports betting payment processing without any problems by contacting us.
