In iGaming, any successful B2C brand is based on three pillars: quality product, effective marketing, and reliable payment infrastructure. While the first two are easier to understand, the last one is often underestimated. However, without a properly structured payment system, marketing won’t work, and the product itself — whichever it may be — will be left without customers.

All high-risk operators face the challenge of building a convenient and stable system for accepting payments and withdrawing funds. This is a tough road: you need to take into account regulatory requirements, choose the right technical stack, and balance the cost of services with their efficiency. Therefore, let’s explore the key stages a business developer and the payment department go through in creating this kind of system.

The Impact of Licenses and Laws on the Payment Set-up

Payments in iGaming are strictly regulated, and the types of methods that can be used depends directly on the license and the country where the operator operates. There are unregulated markets where you can operate with an offshore license and use almost any payment methods — for example, Puerto Rico. And there are jurisdictions where a local license is mandatory down to each region (USA, Argentina).

If an operator enters the market without the necessary license, the choice of payment methods becomes extremely limited. Local PSP refuse to work with such businesses, and there are no global solutions, or they offer overpriced tariffs. In addition, some countries legally prohibit gambling and betting.

Nevertheless, the high-risk industry is good for the fact that even in the most complicated situations you can find working schemes. The main thing is to calculate the risks in advance, learn the requirements and build your strategy correctly.

Orchestrators, Aggregators and PSP: Which Approach to Choose?

The choice of payment provider depends not only on the legal side but also on the technical capabilities of the product. There are two approaches: use an external payment gateway or build your own solution.

If the operator chooses an external gateway, the most universal option is to connect an orchestrator. This is a ready-made platform that is already integrated with dozens and even hundreds of payment solutions for different regions and legal models. Orchestrator gives you access to key operational functions:

• Fraud prevention
• PCI DSS certification (mandatory for card operations)
• Cascading and routing (transaction distribution between different channels)
• Convenient and informative back-office

But this solution has some disadvantages. The main one is the price. Orchestrators work on a “percentage + fixed commission” model, which can be unprofitable for a long term.

Another option is to work with payment service providers (PSP) directly. This is possible if the operator has its own payment gateway with the required functionality. In this case, you need a team to handle integrations, customization, and monitoring of the providers’ work.

PSP may be different. Some offer their own payment solution, while others work as aggregators, reselling other provider’s services. Aggregators are convenient for fast scaling and connecting new methods, but their prices are usually higher.

The best strategy is to combine solutions. For example, you can use an orchestrator at the start, and as you grow, gradually switch to working with PSP directly to reduce expenses.

What to Look At When Choosing a PSP?

Choosing a payment provider is not just a matter of price. Several factors determine whether a PSP will be successful or not.

• Coverage and user flow. You need to understand what payment methods the provider gives you and how the user flow looks like for deposits and withdrawals. Even one extra step can drastically reduce conversion rates.
• The cost. This is not only the standard percentage per transaction, but also hidden costs: commissions for chargebacks, currency conversion, and transaction processing.
• Performance. The PSP efficiency can be assessed even before integration by analyzing statistics from other operators and studying reviews.
• Infrastructure. Convenient back-office, API documentation, transaction tracking and 24/7 support — all this affects the convenience of working with the provider.

Mistakes at the selection stage can be extremely expensive, so it’s important to pay close enough attention to the analysis.

How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Payment Methods?

Launching a payment solution is only half the job. Next, you need to monitor its effectiveness regularly. The main indicator is conversion — the proportion of successful payments to total attempts.

It is important to analyze not only the conversion rate itself but also the factors influencing it:

• Failures on the bank’s or payment provider’s side
• User errors (e.g., incorrect data entry)
• Transaction processing time
• User behavior on the payment page

The more data the payment department has, the more accurately problem areas can be identified and optimized.

Risk Management and Anti-fraud Control

iGaming market has thousands of vulnerabilities — from chargebacks to complex cash-out schemes. That is why the payment department works closely with the risk department. Without an effective anti-fraud system, operators can lose huge amounts of money.

Fraud monitoring (analysis of suspicious transactions), manual auditing and user control, and analytical system predictions are essential areas without which it would be extremely difficult to operate successfully.

There are also service providers that can be integrated either with orchestrators or directly with end merchants, allowing for comprehensive data collection on users from various sources, analysis of this data, and behavior prediction.

The Role of Support in Payment Processes

Another crucial aspect is user support. In payments, functionality is important, but so is convenience for the customer. In some regions and payment methods (e.g., P2P transfers), users may need help at every step.

Effective customer support:

• Helps users through the payment flow.
• Explains how to use complex methods.
• Reduces user drop-out due to failed payments.

This directly affects the conversion rate and re-deposits.

Why Backup Payment Solutions are a Must-have?

Even the most reliable providers experience glitches. If an operator works with only one PSP, it can lead to a total payment blockage. That’s why it’s essential to plan for backup solutions from the start.

Backup payment methods help:

• Avoid operational downtime
• Diversify risks
• Optimize costs by switching between providers with different terms and conditions

The more payment channels an operator has, the more stable their payment infrastructure is.

Afterwords

One of my colleagues once compared the payment department to the lungs in the human body, and it is an accurate metaphor. Payment flows are the air without which the product cannot function. And if the respiratory system in the body fails, the whole organism suffers.

A successful payment set-up is not just a convenience for customers. It is a competitive advantage, which directly affects the income of the business. That is why you should pay attention to it from the very beginning and at all stages of development.