Which Payment Methods are the most popular at Casino Days?

South Asia is quickly moving towards digitisation, which, in turn, transforms the landscape of financial transactions. Players are moving away from cash and closer to online transactions, from paying rent and purchasing bus tickets to gambling and betting online.

In this research paper, we are examining the payment behaviours of our players based on comprehensive internal data spanning January - May 2023. 

We will dive deeper into the following data points:

• Most popular payment methods
• Market trends
• Transaction success rates
• Transaction quantity versus transaction amount
• Regular vs seasoned gambler behaviour
• Withdrawal speeds

The Most Popular Payment Methods For Online Casino And Real-Money Gaming in South Asia

With smartphones almost entirely taking over as the device of choice among our players, it is no surprise that mobile-optimised payment methods climb to the top of the list when looking at popularity.

The graph above confirms this, with Mobile app and banking-based payments representing 87% of all transactions and 71% of the total amounts transferred.

Interestingly, while credit card payments only stand for 8% of all transactions, this 8% makes up an impressive 21.25% of the total transfer amount. We could conclude that, although card users are few, they make distinctively larger transactions than their Mobile app counterparts.

It is also curious to see that the group of payment wallets like Skrill, Neteller, AstroPay, and Muchbetter contribute 4.90% of all transactions and 6.75% of the transferred amounts. 

Mobile app-based payments are the most popular methods

Mobile app-based payments are extremely popular in South Asia, along with NetBanking, and have taken a significant jump in adoption in many countries. 

For example, UPI (Unified Payment Interface) is now one of the most popular ones worldwide, and with it being an interface, it doesn't necessarily need its own app. Instead, other applications like Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe are integrated so that consumers can choose their own wallets to use with UPI.

But the fact that Paytm leads the way when it comes to UPI payments is maybe not something that comes as a surprise. Paytm currently has over 350 million users worldwide and 90 million monthly users, with the vast majority residing in South Asia.

Credit and Debit Cards are close second

Mobile app-based payments hold the absolute majority of payments at Casino Days, and credit and debit cards like VISA and Mastercard are the second most popular payment method. Interestingly, the usage of cards for online payments at Casino Days has increased by 24%, from 17% in January 2023, to 21% in May of the same year.

Reports show that the number of debit and credit cards exceeded the one billion mark in India at the end of September 2022, which is a 19% increase within a 12-month period. One of the reasons for the increase in that particular country is RuPay being integrated into the Google Pay UPI network.

Payment Wallets add diversity

Accessibility and useability are two important aspects of our online casino product, and as such, limiting ourselves to offering only Mobile app as a means of payment for our players has simply never been an option.

Payment methods like Neteller, Skrill, and AstroPay are three methods that, while being far from reaching the popularity of Paytm, add diversity to our player’s choices.

AstroPay functions both as an online e-wallet and a prepaid card, allowing players who are used to betting using cash to do so in an online environment.

UPI makes secure online transactions possible

Although cards are on the rise for online transactions, many credit and debit cards lack two-factor authentication and are, therefore, less secure than a method used via UPI would be.

UPI’s use of two-factor authentication and Virtual ID or Virtual Payment Addresses makes it a secure payment option. This allows funds to move to or from a user's bank account without the need to share sensitive bank details with the merchant.

Since UPI only works as a “gateway” between the user and the merchant, no actual funds have to be stored in the UPI “wallet”. This differs from other e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, and Muchbetter, which need to be funded before a user can transfer the funds to the merchant.

Seasoned vs Regular Gambler Preference

One interesting aspect we’ve looked at is if the preference for payment methods differed between player groups. According to our data, it does.

Seasoned players preferred Mobile banking and payment-based apps (62%) and credit card transactions (30%). In contrast, newer players showed an even higher inclination towards Mobile payment-based applications (83%) and a comparatively lower preference for card transactions (10%).

Credit and debit card transactions stand for the biggest difference between seasoned and non-seasoned players, where 20% more seasoned gamblers are using credit cards than non-seasoned ones.

Success Rates of Payment Methods

The success rate of a payment method is an interesting data point, as it tells us the percentage of successful transactions made with a method. 

From our internal data, we can see that Crypto transactions had the highest success rate at 95%, followed by Mobile app and Banking (76%) and Card (65%). AstroPay had the lowest success rate at 55%. However, given crypto's low percentage in total successful transaction amounts (1%), its high success rate doesn't translate into a dominant transaction mode.

One reason for this could be the novelty of cryptocurrencies and their rather steep learning curve when learning how to use them. Crypto is also a different currency from rupees, so players less used to currency conversion may shy away from crypto for this reason.

No matter the method, players are more likely to return and continue playing when a payment method is reliable. This comes to show how important stable payment methods are, as without them, players can’t fund their accounts to play.

Usability is an important factor in success

As humans, we strive for optimisation and effectiveness. If something is complicated and tedious, we are less likely to do it. The same goes for payment methods, which could be one reason why UPI outshines other methods and also why card payments are holding on.

While UPI, Paytm, Google Pay, and PhonePe are easy methods to use, they do require to be set up within the UPI app, and a transaction requires the app and a verification number. Credit and debit cards have been around since the 50s and don’t require an app or prior set-up to be used.

Compare this to cryptocurrencies, where a specific wallet is required, the currency’s value can be volatile, which requires at least some knowledge of the cryptocurrency itself and its behaviour. Crypto is also a fairly new option in our cashier, meaning that experienced players may already have an alternative payment method they prefer and have been using for a long time.

Fast Withdrawals: A Priority For Online Players

Additional research has proven that players are looking for fast and instant withdrawals. While being able to deposit and play quickly is important, being able to withdraw one's funds or winnings is proving to be of equal or higher value to players.

Fast withdrawals are just as much about being able to receive funds fast as it is about trust between a player and the casino. Delayed withdrawals and complicated verification processes can easily deter players from depositing in the first place, as they feel there is a risk they won’t get the funds back, either at all or within an acceptable timeframe.