Gone are the days when we had to wait for days and weeks before payments could be processed. And this is not something that has changed in the casino industry alone. In fact, according to a recent PYMNTS study, 78% of customers said they were highly satisfied with receiving funds through instant payments. With more users preferring instant payments, will this be the future of online casinos?
Well, as an operator that seeks to remain competitive and relevant, you always want to ensure that you adapt to changing consumer preferences. Imagine missing out on 73% of customers who claim that good experiences greatly influence their loyalty just because you didn’t offer them instant withdrawals. In this article, we will delve into the depths of how instant withdrawals are changing things in the casino industry and what things might look like in the future.
The philosophy of instant gratification
Online gambling has moved from just being a mere source of entertainment. Players today expect to encounter seamless and hassle-free gaming experiences, which has led to great changes in the sector. A recent Facebook internal marketing research showed that over 350 million players participate in its instant games. In the US alone, the number of players increased by 28%, while the UK saw a 50% increase.
Aren’t these statistics from a global social media platform of about 2.9 billion active monthly users sufficient enough to prove a changing preference within the iGaming industry? It’s no wonder even affiliate sites use instant withdrawal as a metric to rank top casinos. (Source: https://instantwithdrawalcasino.com/)
Such cultural changes are part of why operators have been adopting instant payments to stay relevant. How users – both potential and existing – perceive you is very important, especially now that acquiring new players has become quite expensive. According to OutboundEngine, you can actually spend up to five times more to get a new player than retaining an existing one.
Good enough, when you deliver instant withdrawals, customers can perceive you as reliable – which can boost your brand credibility. According to Embryo, brand trust can affect up to 71% of buyers who are more likely to transact with a business that they perceive to be reliable. This is even more evident among Gen Zers, of whom 79% favor brand trust. On top of that, the Institute of Customer Service highlighted that if 95% of customers found your platform to be more reliable, they were likely to remain loyal.
What does the future look like?
In November 2023, PYMNTS Intelligence released a report showing that instant payments contributed to customer satisfaction by 11%. The study also revealed that such experiences could double loyalty rates if the payments were free, even though many were willing to pay for more. According to Statista, the value of transactions made using real-time payments was expected to grow by about 289% in the next six years.
As such, we are likely to see more casino operators integrating technologies that will help them meet the demand for immediate transfers. One of those technologies is crypto – which several operators have already welcomed. The Tech Report placed the crypto gambling market share at $250 million in June 2024 and expected the sector to grow tremendously in the coming days. Of this, about 60% of all Bitcoin transactions were related to gambling. Crypto transfers are quite fast compared to traditional methods and eliminate the need for intermediaries, improving processing speeds while reducing transaction costs.
The role of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies will also impact how operators deliver instant payments. Initially, traditional payments could be delayed due to longer verification processes. With AI, however, these processes can be automated to ensure that you don’t wait as long as it was twenty or more years ago.
Plus, we might see developers using these technologies to come up with sophisticated e-wallets tailored primarily for the casino industry. Regions like North America have already opened up to this technology. By 2023, they had captured 38% of the Generative AI market in iGaming, equaling a revenue of $431.9 million. Globally, this market is expected to reach $11,106.6 million after the next nine years, according to Market.us.
When it comes to the security of such payments, AI will also be helpful. As technology advances, fraudsters are always evolving alongside it. For instance, authorized push payment frauds have become common, where you are tricked into willingly transferring money to a fraudster’s account. And since real-time payments are mostly irrevocable, you might not be able to reverse them once you are defrauded. By using advanced behavioral analytics, casino companies will be able to detect suspicious requests in real time, thus minimizing the chances of fraud.
Ever since we saw the rise of the first online gambling platform in the late 20th century, a lot has changed in the industry. Who would have thought that we could ever get to the point where withdrawals were made instantly? This is all thanks to the rapid technological advances that have been shaping the 21st century.
When we look ahead into the future, we will likely see more operators adopting technologies like crypto that allow for instant transfers. It is important to note that the future will not just be about improving speed alone—operators will seek to ensure that players can transact within safe and secure environments as well.