What iGaming operators can learn from retail checkout trends

How adopting retail-style checkout strategies can boost iGaming conversions.

Retailers have spent the past decade perfecting the art of the seamless checkout. Making payments more digital, frictionless and personalized has been integral to this.

Everything from one-click purchases to contactless payments and loyalty integration are now standard. Here are three main trends that iGaming operators should take note of.

Trend #1: Decline of cash and rise of digital payments

The way consumers shop has changed – and so has how they pay. E-commerce took shopping online. Mobile commerce put it in the palm of the hand. And social commerce enabled consumers to shop where they scroll.

As commerce has digitalized, so has payment. Over the past decade, digital transactions have increased fourfold worldwide. In 2024, there were more than 1.6 trillion digital payments. This is projected to exceed 3.5 trillion by 2029, according to Capgemini research.

Consumers are moving away from cash towards digital wallets and account-to-account (A2A) payments. So much so, digital wallets and instant payments rose from a 13% share of value in 2020 to 25% in 2024. In contrast, the share of card payments declined from 65% to 52% over the same period, Capgemini reports.

Payment takeaways

This trend points to greater fragmentation rather than consolidation of payments. There’s no global way to pay, so local or alternative payment methods (APMs) are proliferating.

These tend to follow consumers wherever and however they shop: at home, abroad, online or in-store. So, expect to see more payment types traditionally associated with ‘offline’, store-based environments moving online and vice versa.

Moreover, developments in technology, particularly around mobile and wearables, have made Open Banking and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) payments, traditionally associated with online shopping, specific sectors or larger purchases, viable for all types of purchases.

iGaming operator takeaways

iGaming operators are advised to offer a mix of payment types particular to the countries and regions in which you operate, customer demographics and so on. Direct bank transfers, A2A payments and other so-called ‘push’ payments are becoming increasingly popular and accepted. As are local e-wallets, e-cash and vouchers.

Players and prospects are not likely to do something different just to play on your site. So, iGaming operators with cross-border expansion plans are advised to consider how to combine their global growth ambitions with local payment preferences.

Trend #2: Rise of smarter, more seamless commerce

Commerce is moving from a channel-centric to a customer-centric model. Distinctions between physical stores, e-commerce etc. are almost as outmoded as the terms ‘multi-channel’ and ‘omni-channel’.

Retailers are expected to meet customers when, where and however they want to shop. Plus, offer them a consistent brand and customer experience. How customers check out, is increasingly seen not just as a transaction, but part of the CX.

There’s a big focus on eliminating waiting and extra steps. This saves customers time, improves conversion, drives loyalty and more. Hence brick-and-mortar retailers are introducing self-checkout kiosks, ‘scan as you shop’ systems, smart carts and Amazon-style ‘just walk out’ technology.

Payment takeaways

This trend points to a greater need for smarter, more seamless payment. When integrated at checkout, bank transfer-based payments are quicker, easier and safer than cards. There’s no need to top up wallets or type in card details, so it’s smarter and more seamless for customers.

Pay-ins and payouts are also faster via bank transfer, removing a major point of friction for players. Historically, pay-ins could be on the player’s account almost instantly, yet payouts could take up to 2-3 days, sometimes longer.

Some providers – like Inpay – can now make all payments in real time. That means players can deposit and withdraw funds within seconds 24/7/365, which improves trust, retention and abandonment rates.

iGaming operator takeaways

Deposit and withdrawals times have become a competitive differentiator for iGaming operators, both for attracting new customers and increasing player retention.

Inpay offers instant, low-cost, multi-currency payments to 200+ countries as an alternative to SWIFT and wire transfers. We deliver the instant experience players increasingly demand via our proprietary banking network.

That’s true across 36 European countries with Instant SEPA, and many more further afield, including some of the industry’s most traditionally complex corridors in APAC, LATAM and more.

Trend #3: Rise of a more personalized customer experience

The growth of digital payments and smarter, more seamless commerce is contributing to a more personalized checkout experience. Retailers and e-tailers are consciously moving from the clunky to the continuous, and from check-out to check-in.

This may be through continuous authentication and stronger, smoother security to reduce fraud as well as friction, e.g. biometric fingerprint and facial recognition. Or behavior-metrics detailing how users scroll, click or tap on a website or app.

It also involves knowing their customers better to improve personalization, loyalty and sales. For e-retailers, this may be through data from point-of-sale systems, loyalty programs and in-store sensors. For retailers, it’s from analyzing browsing, purchase and search data.

Payment takeaways

Payments play a central role in enabling a more personalized customer experience. Whether that’s supporting a mix of payment methods appropriate to each market. Or only showing customers trusted, relevant methods and local currency amounts to avoid FX costs and conversion friction.

It also involves merging various steps into the checkout flow, such as rewards, discounts and recognition. Minimizing small delays, confusing interfaces and unnecessary steps helps maximize conversion.

The ultimate goal may be to make both personalization and payments invisible. Uber with its non-payment payment experience is the poster child for this. At the end of an Uber journey, the passenger gets out of the cab. Payment just happens in the background. It’s not only seamless and frictionless, but also invisible. The passenger’s last memory of Uber is the ease and convenience of the experience.

iGaming operator takeaways

Greater personalization for players on the front end creates greater complexity for operators behind the scenes. That’s particularly around payment systems. So, choosing the right payment infrastructure and partner is key in the era of customer-centric commerce.

Operators will have to keep pace with more payment integrations, more card scheme mandates and more regulatory changes, not less. It then becomes a strategic question of where they want to put time, effort and budget to create and sustain competitive advantage.

Increasingly, operators are focusing on the front-end systems of engagement, where they can differentiate and add value. And outsourcing back-end operational systems, which necessitates smart partnerships for payment processing and expertise.

In conclusion

As competition intensifies and player expectations rise, those who offer greater payment speed, convenience, value and choice will have the edge. Operators who treat payments not merely as a back-end process, but as a strategic lever and core part of the player journey, will win.