BetMGM

Online gaming and sports betting platform BetMGM has bolstered its executive team, after announcing that Andrew Hagopian has been named as chief legal officer.

In the new role, Hagopian will oversee the company’s legal and compliance departments and will report directly to the group’s CEO, Adam Greenblatt.

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Digitain

The casino and sports betting platform provider has recruited Simon Westbury as its head of international business development, bringing a wealth of experience to the role.

Expressing delight to be joining the firm as well as excitement at “ambitious expansion plans,” Westbury’s most recent role was as CCO of VSoftCo where he was responsible for growing the firm’s customer base, strengthening relationships with partners and elevating the brand to become a stand-alone leading supplier within the virtual sports space. 

Suren Khachatryan, CCO at Digitain, said of the appointment: “His proven ability to work with a wide range of commercial stakeholders, as well as his deep understanding of global markets, makes him a perfect fit for us. I’m very confident that he will play a major role in helping us achieve our growth targets and contribute to our success for many years to come.” 

Svenska Spel

Eva Stoppel is to take up the role of CFO at Swedish state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel, and will formally assume the position on Sunday September 1, 2019.

Forming a part of group management and reporting to the CEO, Stoppel joins from Swedbank after a long career in the Bonnier Group that included being investment director at Bonnier AB, and CFO of Bonnier News, Daily News and Scribona Sverige.

Patrik Hofbauer, president and CEO at Svenska Spel, commented: “I am very happy to welcome Eva Stoppel to Svenska Spel. In addition to her extensive experience as CFO she has valuable expertise in business development and change management. 

“She also has knowledge of digital transformation, something that will be a great asset for us. With Eva, we get a CFO who has all these key elements and who also knows how it is to work in regulated and highly competitive industries”

Of the appointment Stoppel added: “I am very pleased to be entrusted with responsibility for the finance and business support function for Svenska Spel. I hope to contribute with my experience in charge of management and digital transformation in other competitive industries”

Helio Gaming

Lottery games provider Helio Gaming has strengthened its operational arm, with the appointment of Keith Galea as chief operating officer.

Bringing a “demonstrable track record of operational success,” Galea joins Helio from Bit8 where he occupied the chief product officer position, but despite the new role will maintain his position of managing director at his consultancy firm Consult Labs.

Richard Mifsud, CEO at Helio Gaming, stated: “We’re delighted to announce the appointment of Keith as COO. Having invested in Helio Gaming, he understands how we work, and the experience he offers will take us to the next level.

“The addition of Keith will play a major role in helping us achieve our growth targets, and be an important member of the team for many years to come.

Okto Group

Okto Group, the financial technology provider, has appointed Simon Dorsen as director of gaming as it strives to consolidate its presence and drive its growth in the industry.

Set to be supported by “a growing team of gaming experts,” Dorsen joins as the firm sets a vision to gamify the payment experience, and establishing Okto “as the true player’s wallet”.

Filippos Antonopoulos, co-founder of Okto, said of the appointment: “Simon is an industry veteran with a gamer’s heart and the entrepreneurial spirit to drive growth and positive disruption in our industry. We welcome him with delight.

“We have been tailoring our market-leading payments and financial ecosystem to the gaming industry to provide a full-service payments and fintech model. Simon’s proven ability across a wide range of well-known gaming suppliers and operators, as well as his deep understanding of the technology behind it, makes him a perfect fit.

“I firmly believe that he will play a major role in successfully growing our gaming business.”

Bringing 16 years experience across the gaming and payment sectors, Dorsen has previously held senior roles with Trustly, GTech and IGT, where he is credited with establishing the company’s first omni-channel sales team.

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Writing for Payment Expert, it emphasised that as the world becomes increasingly digital the importance of instant gratification has elevated. 

Pay N Play headed to UK shores 

The payment provider is set to launch Pay N Play in the UK. This gaming product seeks to streamline the user payment journey by combining the registration and deposit steps into one. No more time-consuming sign-up and manual account verification processes. 

Pay N Play has been used in other markets since 2015 and helps operators reduce the risk of drop-offs during the payment process. This has resulted in a conversion rate of over 98.8 per cent. 

Olof Wirfelt, Chief Commercial Officer at Trustly, told Payment Expert: “Adding the UK to our roster of markets where Pay N Play is available (others include Sweden, Finland, Estonia and the Netherlands) we’re happy to now see UK players being able to experience frictionless registration and deposits combined with instant payouts. 

“The fact that we’re expanding this concept to new markets reinforces our position as a leader in innovative payment solutions. It also underscores our dedication to providing seamless, convenient and secure digital payment experiences for consumers.” 

Trustly also suggests that this launch reflects the speed of uptake by Brits of more advanced payment methods in recent years. Prior to this, UK consumers were far more reliant on traditional bank cards for online transactions. 

“Trustly is growing at hyper speed in the UK and Open Banking payments are fast picking up as a popular payment method amongst users in the market,” explained Wirfelt. 

“From an igaming perspective, UK operators have had better access to the financial services ecosystem compared with many other markets. 

“Since UK banks have built very well-functioning APIs, it is clear that consumers are open to shift their behaviour. Similar to other markets, digital A2A payments in the UK have several benefits compared to cards, such as less exposure to fraud, better identification data and often lower cost. 

“We are seeing a significant interest from UK merchants across all our verticals and it’s very clear that merchants are actively looking for A2A payments to add to their cashiers. We have operated longer than anyone else in this space, we have proven the quality of our product delivery in this market and others, and right now it’s full steam ahead.” 

Trustly’s Pay N Play product also offers robust security features to protect players’ funds. This is achieved by leveraging bank-grade encryption and authentication protocols, ensuring that players’ financial information remains safe and protected throughout the transaction. 

Building on the Pay N Play solution, gaming operators can differentiate themselves, attract more players and ultimately drive revenue growth. With ease of use and strong security, Trustly seeks to foster trust and loyalty towards both the payment solution and the gaming brands that offer it. 

Wirfelt concluded: “In summary, a seamless payment journey is paramount in the gaming industry, and Pay N Play is the ideal solution to meet this demand. With its user-friendly interface, enhanced security features and ability to drive conversion, Pay N Play is helping gaming operators stay ahead of the competition and deliver exceptional experiences to players worldwide.”

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Amid growth in Europe and the US, the group stated that its transaction value grew by 79 per cent to $58bn.

Furthermore, a record 274 million transactions were processed via Trustly throughout last year fuelled by the firm’s growth in Europe and North America.

It builds on the overall ambition of Trustly to elevate the adoption of Open Banking as the tech journey holds significant potential for the igaming industry. 

Johan Tjärnberg, Group CEO of Trustly, commented: “In a year of global economic challenges, Trustly’s exceptional growth highlights our commitment to Open Banking and our ability to lead in the digital payments landscape. Our expansion in Europe and the US is a testament to this leadership. 

“The launch of Azura has been a game-changer, introducing a new level of transactional personalisation and efficiency. I am immensely proud of Azura’s contribution to our growth since its debut in May, setting a new benchmark in the payment industry.” 

Trustly saw the most significant of its growth coming from the US, where Q4 2023 saw volume increase by 216 per cent whilst total processed volume surged 229 per cent from the previous year. 

The Open Banking firm also launched on the FedNow payment rail last year bolstering its account-to-account capabilities and believes there is now a growing appetite in the US for instant payments. 

Alexandre Gonthier, CEO of Trustly, added: “In the US market, Trustly is trailblazing account-to-account payment capabilities and instant payment adoption on both RTP and FedNow, two newer payment rails that enable money to move from a bank account to another bank account in real-time. 

“We’re the global leader in Open Banking Payments and see this level of unprecedented growth as validation for both the Trustly brand and bank payments everywhere.”

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It’s a collaboration that will place an enhanced focus on cashless transactions to retail venues. 

Trustly underlined that it is seeking to bring the benefits of Open Banking in the online betting and igaming space to the physical gaming sphere via this partnership. The firm’s in-person payments offering will be combined with Trustly ID to enhance KYC and AML compliance.

Jon Wolfe, President of Global Systems and Services at Light & Wonder, commented: “Trustly is the leader in Online Banking Payments with a proven track record in online sports betting, and we’re proud to work with them to power our cashless solution on casino floors.

“Cashless is the future of in-person gaming, and we’re proud to pioneer the solutions that continue to drive innovation.”

It comes amidst the growth of cashless payments, which are becoming more widespread across the land-based gaming space, including both betting shops and casinos. In some jurisdictions, such as the Australian state of Victoria, this is being mandated into legislation.

John Parsons, VP of Gaming at Trustly, added: “Light & Wonder stands at the forefront of the global gaming industry, crafting unparalleled gaming experiences across its diverse divisions.

“The introduction of RAPIDPLAY, leveraging our In-Person Payments feature of Trustly Pay marks a pivotal innovation for direct funding of games from player bank accounts via personal devices. We are proud to collaborate with Light & Wonder to deliver quick and secure instant payments on the casino floor.”

The business benefits of the cash-to-cashless transition have not gone unrecognised by operators and payments providers. Trustly stressed that in-person payments can be a ‘game-changer’ for casino firms.

Online betting and gaming is one of Trustly’s core markets, and the firm counts some significant clients in the sector, such as the Nederlandse Loterij and Betway.

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Through the partnership, Trustly will support Station Casinos with guaranteed deposits and withdrawals for user wallets, allowing for smoother interactions between customers and the NFTs on offer. 

Tom Mikulich, Senior Vice President of Innovation at Red Rock Resorts, Station Casinos LLC, stated: “STN Charms is a one-of-a-kind innovation in gaming. Trustly’s Open Banking technology is a key factor in this new endeavour, and we’re happy to be working with the top leader in payment processing for our industry.” 

Looking to enhance its players’ user experience through an advanced loyalty programme, Vegas-based Station Casinos launched an NFT platform to provide “ground-breaking” incentives, offering digital STN charms that can be bought and sold on a marketplace. 

“We’re excited to partner with Station Casinos and CentralAMS,” remarked John Parsons, VP of Gaming at Trustly. “Our work with them has allowed us to show how Open Banking technology can assist in creating a ground-breaking loyalty program by providing an integral payment system for its members-only marketplace. We’re proud to be a part of such a unique and innovative project.”

Players will now be able to purchase and sell the STN Charms using Trustly’s Open banking Payments solution alongside digital wallet technology facilitated by CentralAMS, serving as the merchant of record.

Mark Lipparelli, Managing Member at CentralAMS, added: “We are pleased to partner with Trustly and have them as part of the overall payments solutions for the STN Charms project. Their experience as a payment provider showed, and everyone has been a pleasure to work with.”

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Trustly’s payout solution will be made available across TOTO Casino and TOTO Sport, improving the user experience on the online gaming brands as fast payouts can be conducted.

“We are pleased to introduce instant payouts for our customers via the Trustly platform,” commented Arjan Blok, CFO of Nederlandse Loterij.

“Players in the Netherlands are already used to instant payments in all their personal bank transfers and in their deposits for online gaming. It is no more than logical that this is now also possible for our payouts. This will enhance the experience for all of TOTO’s customers.”

Commenting on the deal with TOTO, Vasilije Lekovic, VP of Gaming at Trustly, stated: “Trustly’s partnership with TOTO Sport and TOTO Casino is a testament to the product quality, reputation and reliability of Trustly in the Dutch online gambling market. 

“Our unparalleled instant payout product, in combination with the rest of our open banking payment offering in the Netherlands, has established Trustly as the partner of choice for multiple operators in this market and we’re very excited that TOTO, one of the market leaders, has joined that group. 

“We look forward to working closely with TOTO so we can help bring more value to the company and its users.”

Speaking at SBC Summit North America, John Parsons, Trustly US VP of Gaming, gave a keynote speech about the payment strategies that can help improve player loyalty, highlighting instant access as a vital component of an operator’s services.

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These were some of the opening remarks by Trustly’s VP of Gaming John Parsons, who delivered a keynote speech at the recent SBC Summit North America event, providing attendees with rationalisation as to why bettors were leaving so many sites, and how payment strategies were key to being able to build stronger player and brand loyalty. 

A consolidation period has begun in the US igaming and betting industry since the repeal of PASPA in 2018, which brought about an explosion in revenue and player activity. 

Whilst major markets such as New York have given operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel a wave of added revenue, this early growth was not going to last forever. In order to retain those early players, strategies in the form of enhanced user experience and payment methods were key in order to establish a strong player base. 

Parsons revealed that in a recent survey of avid New York bettors, found that these players were visiting 3.3 sites a week, with three quarters of respondents stating they were willing to walk away from an operator site at the drop of a hat if they were unhappy with a certain aspect of that particular site. 

“Gamblers are promiscuous, they are playing in other places and if you are their first choice, you’re probably getting about 60% of their wallet,” explained Parsons. 

“They are constantly comparing the market. What is it that you can do for me, that the others cant, ie, better bets, better odds, better deposit bonuses. What else are your competitors willing to do that you are not? Again, gamblers are promiscuous.”

Deposit bonuses that were once, and to a certain degree still are, a fundamental drawing tactic for players, e.g. deposit $100 get $100 back, has put operators into a difficult situation because they need a return on investment. 

Parsons also detailed how one mistake or bad decision that stifles the user experience, take William Hill’s app breakdown during the Super Bowl last February, can ultimately tarnish an operator’s reputation through word of mouth to inexperienced and more importantly, seasoned players. 

He stated: “That’s going to keep you from getting new players which is now more expensive than ever. 

“I’m not talking about the $50 one hit wonder who drops a bet and you never see them again. I’m talking about your avid experienced player that should be giving you $10,000 a year, that’s your driver that’s going to give you profitable business, this is who you have to worry about.

“If you lose one of those, it costs you 25x more to make a new one.”

One of the most crucial areas for retaining and garnering new customers was according to Parsons, the need to collaborate with partners on new payment processes. 

Payment capabilities became a focus of Parsons’ speech when it came to ensuring player retainment. He highlighted that if a player can’t withdraw up to $100 because the operator can’t process it, they are going elsewhere to see who can provide that player’s needs. 

“They want that instant access, they want that technology and your payment partner is going to be able to identify what that is,” added Parsons. 

“You should have some kind of player reward system for whatever you have setup for them.”

An instant payment experience is a crucial factor to the overall user experience and journey a player not only wants now, but is almost a requirement. 

This year, the US is expected to shift from the RTP (Real-Time Payment) rail to the newly established FEDNow rail, expected to boost the speed and efficiency of payments in the country to new heights. 

This move could prove pivotal for operators to integrate into their payment systems as not only will players be able to engage with their sites in a more efficient manner, players will also be drawn to the speed of their withdrawal or deposits which may garner stronger loyalty towards that site. 

The US gaming and betting gold rush may indeed be over, but with new markets across the country constantly opening, operators may not have a better chance than now to strategise and configure new strategies to not only gain new players, but retain the ones that are crucial to their profitability.

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The keynote will take place on the second day of the conference and trade show (September 22) at Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc. The CEO will detail his journey in payments focusing on his time leading Bambora, and discuss how open banking helps address consumer and merchant needs as the world is witnessing a shift in the way we move and manage our money.

Tjärnberg said: “The modern world favours those who are fast to adapt to changes. Open banking is a huge part of our mission to make digital payments seamless for everyone. It is great to see a separate stage dedicated to payments at SBC Summit Barcelona, and I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts with the sports betting and igaming audience.”

Over 525 million consumers worldwide are using Trustly, as the company provides a payment platform that prioritises speed, simplicity and security. The platform supports real-time deposits and fast withdrawals and helps merchants instantly verify consumer data, making it a popular choice in the sports betting and igaming industry. 

Johan Tjärnberg, who brings an impressive track record of innovation within the payments industry, assumed his new role as the Trustly CEO on January 17, 2022. In 2014, he founded Bambora, an international payments processor for in-store and online retailers. 

Bambora was acquired by Ingenico three years later, but Tjärnberg remained in the ranks, holding several positions in the management team. Before founding Bambora, he was the CEO of Point, a European payment services provider. 

Tjärnberg’s experience and focus on innovation make him the ideal person to introduce the industry to the concept and the benefits of open banking. 

Rasmus Sojmark, CEO and Founder of SBC, said: “Open banking is revolutionising the way people interact with their finances. Trustly’s open banking solution is already in use at major operators as we’re noticing a shift from traditional payment solutions to account-to-account payments. I am very excited that Johan will join us in Barcelona this year to share his experience creating a seamless payment journey.”

Trustly will have significant involvement on the second day of the conference. In addition to Tjärnberg’s keynote, the company’s Vice President of Gaming, Vasilije Lekovic, will participate in the ‘Payment leaders – the three c’s: customer friction versus conversion versus cost’ session. Moreover, Trustly’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Distribution, Olof Wirfelt, is set to be part of the ‘Cashless – What is the next evolution of the cashless experience’ panel. 

Away from the conference rooms, Trustly will be exhibiting in the relevant ‘Payments & Compliance Zone’ to showcase their latest innovations and offerings to the SBC Summit Barcelona attendees.

SBC Summit Barcelona is taking place between September 20-22. Get your full access pass to SBC’s biggest-to-date event for €495 or bring along two (or more) team members and save 30 per cent on your tickets.

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The FI had disclosed that the company had not complied with key parts of the money laundering regulation, with a Trustly statement issuing an update that it has “already started to adapt its services to meet the SFSA’s updated interpretation of who should be treated as a customer in Europe”.

In its initial assessment, the financial authority said that shortcomings were identified across the group’s general risk assessment, risk classification of customers, routines and guidelines for customer knowledge, measures for customer knowledge and monitoring of customers. A warning and a penalty fee of SEK 130m (£10.18m) was issued.

Subsequently, the online banking payments provider updates that its has already addressed, or started to address, the deficiencies previously identified that are not attributable to who is to be treated as a customer.

“A key issue for the supervisory case has been Trustly Europe’s previous interpretation of the regulatory framework that end users, i.e. consumers who pay with Trustly’s service, should not be treated as customers of the company, but as customers of the merchants to whom the company’s services are provided,” a statement issued by the company reads. 

“The end users who pay with Trustly have already undergone the usual customer due diligence measures carried out by their respective banks.” 

Furthermore, the company adds that it has also made further moves to add further strength across risk management and compliance procedures.

Moves made here, Trustly says, includes establishing a new function in the area of AML measures, AML governance, continuously adding resources to the risk and compliance functions, and enhancing the expertise in risk and compliance matters, including a number of fresh appointments.

“It is good that we now have clarity on the issue of who the SFSA believes we should treat as a customer,” stated Johan Tjärnberg, CEO of Trustly.

“Trustly will always strive to fully comply with both the applicable regulatory framework and our own high standards, and takes the SFSA’s decision very seriously. In November 2021, we started to adapt our services based on the preliminary assessment from the SFSA regarding the end-user issue. 

“We also deeply value our relationships with merchants, banks and other stakeholders and will continue to engage in an active dialogue with several of them to further explain our undertaken and planned actions in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, and how we ensure that Trustly remains the most trusted and secure platform for digital account-to-account transactions. 

“Our market-leading technology enables a better experience for the end customer, higher conversion and lower costs for the merchant, while ensuring our service does not contribute to increased consumer debt. 

“Overall, we remain well positioned in a payment services market that is rapidly transforming towards real-time payments.”

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