Gaming Payment Processors: How to Choose a Provider

The gaming industry is booming, with estimates suggesting that by 2025, the online gaming market could hit $32m in volume. Around 1.3 million users are anticipated to be part of this growth.

As the market expands, online gaming providers have an opportunity to grow their user base. To stay competitive, they need to constantly enhance their services. Selecting a gaming payment processor that ensures smooth, quick transactions without disrupting the gaming experience is crucial for success.

What Is a Payment Processor for Gaming Business?

Payment processing for online gaming is as an important component of business operations. It enables secure purchases of virtual goods and seamless gaming experience.

When a customer buys from your online gaming store, they need to pay for the purchase. A payment processor manages the technical side of transactions. Once a player initiates a purchase, the online gaming payment gateway verifies their details and account balance.

Afterward, transaction data moves to a payment processor, then to the merchant's bank, and eventually to a card network such as Visa or Mastercard. The network contacts the customer's bank to confirm funds and assess risk. If all is well, the bank approves the transaction, and the payment processor completes the sale.

Payment processors are responsible for crucial tasks such as fraud detection and prevention. They use advanced monitoring systems for any signs of suspicious activity. 

Online Gaming Payment Trends in 2024

Being aware of payment trends is essential for shaping a strategy around the preferences of your players. Staying informed about these trends helps in choosing the best gaming payment processor for your business needs.

Digital Wallets

Digital wallets dominate as the top global payment method, constituting 49% of all transactions in 2022. These wallets enable users to store multiple cards and complete payments without manual entry of details. Incorporating digital wallets as a payment choice in your gaming interface can notably boost revenues and prevent abandoned carts.

Cryptocurrency

The gaming sector is rapidly adopting cryptocurrencies for payments. Cryptocurrencies offer a decentralised alternative to traditional money. Transactions are transparent and secure, thanks to blockchain. Integrating cryptocurrency payments into gaming platforms can attract tech-savvy users and expand revenue streams.

Open Banking

Open banking has transformed digital payments, disrupting banks’ monopoly over customer data. Enforced by PSD2 in Europe, it mandated banks to share their application programming interfaces (APIs) with licensed third-party providers. Gaming merchants leveraging open banking can streamline transactions, lower fees, and enhance security.

Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments

Account-to-Account (A2A) payments let players move money directly between bank accounts. They don't need to type in card details. Thanks to open banking, more companies are using A2A payments now. Open banking makes these payments less expensive, faster, and safer. This is a great payment method for gaming merchants looking to streamline transactions.

Gaming Payment Processors: Key Features

When picking the right company to provide online gaming credit card processing,  it's essential to do your homework first. The choice can seem daunting because there are a lot of options out there. To cut through the noise, consider the factors below.

Currencies & Regions

If your gaming payments only work in a few places, it could slow down your business growth. Make sure your payment service can process transactions in all the regions and currencies you need. This gives your players more payment options and is key to serving a worldwide audience.

Payment Methods

Find out what payment options your players prefer and make sure your system supports them, including digital wallets and bank cards. This will cater to their needs and enhance their experience on your gaming platform.

Quick Transfers & Low Fees

Players often need to make payments within the games. If the payment process is slow, costs a lot, or interrupts their game, they're likely to leave. To keep them happy and coming back, offering a fast and easy way to pay is crucial.

Security & Compliance

Keeping your gaming platform safe for transactions is key. Payment processors use several security features to protect both the businesses running gaming platforms and their players:

• PCI DSS: The industry’s security standard for all companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information.
• Tokenisation: Replaces sensitive data with unique tokens that retain all the essential information without compromising security.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Requires two or more factors of authentication (knowledge, possession, inherence) to verify a user's identity and authorise payments.
• SSL/TLS: Protocols that provide secure communications over a computer network by encrypting data.
• Anti-Fraud: Systems and techniques used to monitor, detect and prevent fraudulent activities.

Integration

It's crucial for the payment processor you choose to be compatible with your gaming platform's existing setup. This will ensure operations run smoothly and enhance the overall gaming experience. For instance, if your gaming platform is tailored towards mobile users, the selected payment processor should be optimised for mobile use.

How to Choose a Payment Provider for Gaming Business

Choosing the right payment processor can make your gaming platform work better and enhance your players’ experience. Here's what to do:

1. Identify

Before choosing a payment processor, think about what your gaming business really needs. Look into security options, how much you can spend, the types of payment methods you want to accept, how easy it is for players, and if it will work well with your current setup. This approach will help you pick a service that’s just right for your gaming platform.

2. Review

Assess different payment processors. See what their ratings are on review websites, paying close attention to comments from other gaming companies. Make a table to compare the key features they offer and see how they match up with what you're looking for.

3. Trial

Once you've shortened your list, reach out to the providers to ask for a demo. Many have trial periods, letting you try out what they offer. This step is very important to make sure their service works well with your gaming platform.

Payment Gateway for Gaming with Noda

Elevate your business with Noda’s payment gateway and open banking solution. Our all-in-one platform prioritises customer understanding, efficient operations, and growth.

Noda is a worldwide payment and open banking provider for seamless business transactions. Operating in the EU and Canada, Noda supports a wide range of currencies for globally-minded clients with scalable plans to fuel your business growth.

Case Study: Wargaming & Noda

In February 2023, Wargaming, an award-winning online game publisher, teamed up with Noda to introduce instant open banking payments in gaming. This partnership allowed Wargaming's players to access diverse online payment options, including A2A transactions.

Benefits of Using Noda’s Payment Processor

• Open Banking: Enhance customers’ experience and ease transaction flow with the power and security of open banking payments
• Online Gaming Payment Processing: Streamline pay-ins and pay-outs, leverage intuitive UX, smart routing and offer a variety of popular payment methods
• Online Gaming Merchant Account: Tailored merchant solutions to keep gamers engaged and transactions smooth
• Global Currencies: Noda works with a wide range of currencies to support your online gaming clients around the world
• AI-Powered Analytics: Leverage our data-driven insights. Noda’s tools offer ready-to-use analytics of client behaviour, including segmentation and forecasting algorithms
• Security: Noda provides a secure payment getaway for online gaming, ensuring PCI DSS compliance, encryption and fraud prevention
• Scalable Plans: We offer payment solutions or all company sizes, with scalable plans available to fuel your business growth