Increased focus on payments performance set to boost sales and revenue in gambling over next two years

Research from emerchantpay reveals that 84% of gambling payments leaders predict that a greater focus on payments performance (including tools, analytics, skills and investment) over the next two years will increase their organisation’s revenues by between 1% and 10%. As many as 42% of gambling operators predict that improved payments performance could deliver revenue growth of 7-10%.

The Performance Pulse white paper identifies the number and variety of steps that payments leaders are looking to take to improve performance across all areas of their payments infrastructures. At the top of the list are minimising the number of steps in the payment user journey across multiple touchpoints, effectively reassuring customers around security and encryption on payment pages, and consolidating international payment providers, all of which were cited by 90% of payments leaders as having a significant impact on performance. These steps are followed by incentivising payments teams around improved efficiency (88%) and optimising Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) to increase authorisation rates (82%).

New technology is also seen as an important catalyst for improved payments performance and, therefore, increased revenue. More than three quarters (78%) of payments leaders with gambling believe that deploying AI within payments systems will drive improved performance.

When it comes to measuring and evaluating payments performance, the most widely used metric is growth rates (deployed by 58% of operators), followed by conversion rates (54%), operational costs (40%), acceptance rates (40%) and impact on revenue and profitability (36%). Only 14% of gambling operators currently measure payments performance in relation to customer experience, trailing behind all other sectors, including retail, travel and foreign exchange.

The research reveals a disconnect between the organisational drive for greater payments performance and the objectives and focus of those individuals responsible for delivering it. Remarkably, fewer than one in five payments leaders (18%) has personal and team KPIs that are fully aligned to the KPIs of the wider business and to broader commercial objectives.

Jonas Reynisson, CEO of emerchantpay, said: “These findings really bring home the size of the opportunity for payments leaders within gambling to deliver significant commercial and financial results, through a strategic approach to payments performance. It’s evident that more operators are recognising the importance of instilling a culture of payments performance and bringing in the dedicated resources to ensure that performance is monitored, analysed and optimised on a consistent basis across all aspects of the payments eco-system. This means having high quality skills within the payments team, or support from external providers, to analyse, interpret and present data back to the business in a coherent and accessible way.”

The research revealed different priorities in driving payments performance across industries. Within gambling, there was a strong inclination towards A/B testing to fine-tune payment page design.

Reynisson concluded: “We need to change the narrative around payments, from a tactical focus around ‘keeping the lights on’, to a strategic, business imperative, where performance is clearly aligned to overall strategic goals and KPIs, and payments teams are measured and incentivised around hard commercial metrics. As an industry, if we can get this right, payments performance will create a platform for payments teams to position themselves as more strategic and high-value functions within their organisations.”

The full Performance Pulse white paper is available for download here.

About emerchantpay

emerchantpay is a leading online payment service provider. We help e-commerce businesses of all sizes and sectors accept payments via multiple customer touch points. Designed to increase conversions, our offering includes robust payment processing technology, coupled with popular alternative payment methods and a range of acquiring services. We are Level 1 PCI DSS compliant and ensure payment data undergoes robust security checks. emerchantpay is registered as an authorised Electronic Money Institution (EMI).

For further information on emerchantpay, please see https://www.emerchantpay.com