As the United States expands its domestic sports gambling and online gambling options, operators and players are finding out the limited transaction options available.
After the removal of PASPA by the Supreme Court, states in the US began looking to legally license brick and mortar sports betting and online sports gambling operations. Soon after SCOTUS’s removal of PASPA, states like Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Mississippi introduced legislation to license and regulate domestic sports gambling.
Other US states moved forward with the introduction of bills to permit domestically licensed online casino and poker operations as well.
However, gambling entities, whether physical or digital, face transaction processing issues. This is due to banking regulations put in place by the UIGEA, which prevent banking institutions from processing gambling-related transactions. For years, cash payments and alternative deposit methods were commonly used at domestic physical venues and online platforms which inconvenienced players – but not for long.
Payment processors Worldpay and Paysafe announced a strategic partnership on November 26th, 2018 which would allow them to combine forces and technologies to tackle growing gambling markets in the US. The two payment processors would effectively create a payment solution to bypass UIGEA laws and present successful and seamless gambling transactions, offer universal payment acceptance, and reduce operating costs.
The US sports betting market alone is estimated to grow to $150 billion, potentially becoming the largest sports gambling market in the world. Therefore, the move to serve Americans comes as a strategic business venture.
Joel Leonoff, President and CEO of Paysafe Group believes the two payment processors combined through this partnership will “be able to champion the needs of US iGaming operators and their players by providing a secure cost-effective and highly configured payment platform that delivers an unparalleled player experience”. Worldpay Executive Vice President, Shane Happach, Head of Global Enterprise eCommerce relayed the company’s familiarity as “a leading payment provider for iGaming components, state lotteries, and land-based casinos”.
The partnership plans to combine Worldpay’s expertise in credit card processing along with the company’s fast fund payouts and Paysafe’s exclusive payment solutions via NeTeller digital wallets and its PaySafeCard. Through these features, the payment processors hope to introduce new digital wallet use, secure smooth payment methods, and minimize fraud risk.
The announcement between the payment processing brands comes after Cincinnati-based Vantiv, Inc. acquired London-based Worldpay Group for $10.4 billion earlier in January of 2018 and changed the company’s name to Worldpay, Inc. Worldpay reportedly processes over 40 billion transactions annually, using over three hundred payment types in one hundred and twenty-six currencies across 146 countries.
Paysafe Group, an Isle of Man based company, already has an existing partnership with a popular American brand – DraftKings, as their fantasy sports payment processor. This gives Paysafe an advantage which will be relayed to Worldpay through their partnership. Paysafe’s annual transaction value is well over $80 billion, the company offers two hundred payment types in more than forty currencies.