Our Director of Payment Strategy, Christian Reinheimer, spoke at SBC Summit in Lisbon and shedded some light on the strategic moves required to thrive in an already mature gambling landscape. We had a conversation with Christian post-panel to discuss the main highlights.
What are the key considerations operators need to take into account when navigating mature, regulated payment markets?
“Mature regulated markets are usually subject to complex regulatory requirements across all areas of the customer journey. To create a compliant yet competitive product in these markets, several key considerations are important. The primary one is the capacity an operator has to address these requirements in a bespoke, proprietary way. The greater the capacity, the higher the potential for innovation and differentiation. However, this approach comes with substantial costs. Therefore, the second-best option is to find the best partners in the market to orchestrate a product made up of top-tier solutions provided by service providers. In both cases, a strong compliance team with good relationships with the regulator is essential for success, as regulatory requirements often need clarification, interpretation, and sometimes to be challenged even.”
During the panel, you discussed the different roles of operators, providers and regulators in the ecosystem. Could you elaborate on the function of those different players?
“In a regulated market, where regulatory authorities define how business is conducted, support from providers in meeting regulatory requirements is key for operators. Therefore, it is crucial for operators to identify providers with whom they can build trusted partnerships. In these partnerships, close collaboration is essential, along with a mutual willingness to invest in creating the best possible solutions while maintaining compliance. As previously mentioned, the importance of an operator having a strong compliance team with good relationships with the regulator cannot be overstated. The same applies to providers. Payment Service Providers must not only handle financial compliance but also understand and meet igaming compliance requirements. Providers that excel in this area offer operators a significant competitive advantage.”
Looking ahead, how do you see the payment landscape evolving in regulated markets, and what strategic moves should operators prioritize in these environments?
“Regulated markets, on one hand, simplify the payments landscape by providing clear guidelines on what options are allowed and which cannot be offered. However, they also complicate the landscape with iGaming-specific requirements for payment processing, some of which are not aligned with what is technically feasible in the payments space while still ensuring a low-friction customer experience. I would love to see greater alignment between igaming regulators and financial regulators to drive the banking, fintech, and payments industries to provide better solutions for, among others, iGaming regulatory requirements. Strategically, it is important to build closer relationships with both regulators as well as the infrastructure providers in the payments industry, including card schemes and the big banks.”
