The pay and play boom in the Nordics

In between a three-legged trip between Finland, Malta and Cyprus, Soft2Bet’s Lasse Itainen finds himself working remotely from Helsinki and talking EGR Technology through the special relationship the Nordic region shares with pay and play payment solutions.

Itainen details how the existing infrastructure in place throughout the banking system in the region organically lends itself to pay and play technology and how the benefits point towards a future beyond the gambling industry.

The former IGT manager touches on responsible gambling, Swedish deposit limits and EU directives as he looks towards a future where streamlined payment solutions become the norm, rather than the niche.

EGR Technology: Why are new payment providers, such as Trustly, of such benefit to the online gaming industry?

Lasse Itainen (LI): They offer a registration process via your bank account that has conversion rates better than in any other solution. Also, it takes away some load on fraud and payments teams, as the players will get verified with the bank details, so the operators don’t have to be too concerned about the legitimacy of the player. Overall, it makes everything more secure and convenient for operators. Also, AML concerns will not be as big of an issue.

EGR Technology: Is improving player experience the main objective of these payment solutions?

LI: That is one of the benefits. For the operators, we don’t really need to be too concerned with whether a player is legit or not because that information is coming from the bank. If someone has a pay and play account, we can be pretty sure that this person is trying to play.

For the players, they don’t have to have multiple logins for different sites and their payments are more secure. You see the money back in your bank account in minutes. I would say it’s convenient for the user and the casino operators.

EGR Technology: Why are the Nordics seemingly far more engaged with these payment solutions than other regions?

LI: I think it is a matter that not all other countries have the banking infrastructure to cater to these payment solutions. That’s the whole beauty of signing up and logging in with your bank account.

It is the best converting solution. We see consistently, in the Finnish market for example, over 90% conversion whereas some of the other markets might be 20-40%.

EGR Technology: Do more streamlined and faster payment solutions have any RG complications in your view?

LI: I don’t think there’s any issues with it. With pay and play, it is the most used method in the Nordic markets, there are no concerns with responsible gaming.

Because it allows the user to withdraw money quicker, they most probably won’t bet as much. If a player needs to wait a long time for payments to be processed, then there is always the question that a player may say: “Oh, I should just play a bit more,” so they actually end up losing more than they intended to.

Of course, when we to come to responsible gaming, the main thing is that the operator is able to provide the tools for the user to control their playing, whether it is deposit limits, loss limits or whatever.

EGR Technology: Do you expect to see these payment solutions adopted across the online gaming space outside of the Nordics or is this to remain a more niche product?

LI: This is something where cultural differences could play a role too. In some countries, people are used to using credits cards on ecommerce sites for example. I truly think that the pay and play option, not only in casinos but other businesses, is the most convenient and secure option for the user.

In the future, there must be companies coming up with different e-wallets but then again, these will have to be topped up by credit cards, but it does give some flexibility.

I believe that if all the other countries had similar banking systems to what the Nordic countries have, then pay and play is what they would go with. In other countries the banking system is much more fragmented, whereas in Finland there are under 10 banks operating in total.

EGR Technology: Has pay and play been impacted by the new Swedish deposit limits introduced in July?

LI: The deposit limits have obviously affected our businesses, but they have not made any considerable difference to pay and play. In the Swedish market, it is pretty much the same as in the Finnish market.

We see high conversion rates, around 85 to 90% conversion, and the player behaviour is really similar but of course there’s a difference in Finnish market as there’s no restrictions whatsoever because we’re not under the licence.

EGR Technology: Where do you see the payments solutions market in the next 12-24 months?

LI: It is a fairly new thing for me, but PSD2 (a new EU law which requires banks to share customer data with regulated firms) will help fintech companies and online transfers. This is something that could come into its own in a couple of years.

Also, I think companies will continue to come up with different kinds of e-wallet and it is going to be as convenient when you use Apple Pay or Google Pay in a restaurant or a shop. Maybe even face recognition or fingerprint.

It’s impossible to say whether it will happen within the next 12-24 months, but I think countries where the banking system infrastructure is there, then something is going to happen.