The impact of payout speed on the user experience of online casino players

We have been studying the gamblers' behavior for a long time, compiling analytical reports, conducting A/B tests, and drawing up search queries, and as a result, we came to the conclusion that when choosing a gambling site, players are most interested in the speed of payouts in an online casino. What is it connected with? We will talk about this in this article.

Why is the speed of payments and deposits in a casino so important?

How long does it take to deposit at an online casino:

If you’re new to gambling and have never played in a casino before, you should know that the first problem you’ll face is the deposit process. You will be surprised, but very often this procedure can take more than 30 minutes and it can be very annoying. The time for replenishing your account will greatly depend on the payment method that you choose for yourself. Let's look at the most popular of them:

• Visa / MasterCard- Probably every modern person has a credit card. Using it will allow you to replenish your account in about 5 minutes.

• Bank transfer is one of the slowest and most difficult payment options. Here you will encounter manual filling of payment details and enhanced checks by bank employees. This may delay the verification process for more than 1 week.

• Payment systems(Skrill, Neteller, PaySafeCard, etc.) - here everything will greatly depend on the country in which you are located and on the efficiency of the payment system in it. But on average, replenishment using one of the payment systems will take 15-30 minutes.

• Mobile payments(ApplePay, GooglePay) - This payment method can be equated in speed to Visa, MasterCard, and Maestro credit cards. Since the transaction for them is carried out through the same gateway, the time spent by you will be equal to 10 minutes.

• SMS replenishment- available to gamblers only in some countries, such as the UK. Takes about 5 minutes.

• Cryptocurrencies- today this is the fastest and most modern option for replenishment. The transaction most often takes less than 1 minute.

Agree that in the case when you want to play in a casino and are ready to pay money for it, the expectation is inappropriate. Payments must be made at lightning speed, otherwise, all interest in playing at the casino will be lost. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Now let's look at payout speed.

How long does an online casino withdraw money to players:

To begin with, we decided to specify the withdrawal time for the same payment systems that we described above.

Why do Bitcoin casinos have instant payouts?

Given the specifics of cryptocurrencies and the fact that bitcoin casinos offer instant withdrawals in the entire gambling industry, we decided to make a separate section describing this payment method. This is due to the fact that all crypto transactions take place on the blockchain. Each of them is a separate link receiving a number of confirmations. The payment speed in this case depends on the power allocated for such a transaction, namely on the mining pools. Since the activity of miners is growing every year, the same thing happens with the speed of payments.

The anonymity of Bitcoin payments also plays a decisive role. Users do not need to go through lengthy identification and other verifications, which saves a lot of time compared to any other payment solutions.

Reasons why a casino may not pay out or hold money from players

The casino cannot pay out money quickly because:

1. Doesn’t want (scammers). Yes, unfortunately, this happens. That is why we recommend everyone check whether the casino in which you are going to play has a license and carefully read the T&C.

2. Lack of saved funds. It may sound strange, but the casino owner always needs to regulate the possible maximum bets and have an untouchable supply of money so that if one of his users wins the jackpot, he has enough funds to pay out the full amount of the winnings. Sometimes it happens that casinos delay the payment of funds simply because, due to a series of small and medium winnings, they temporarily fall below this amount and for new payments, they need to accumulate savings again.

3. Combating money laundering. It used to be easy enough to legalize cash by "swiping" it through a casino and claiming to receive it as winnings. Because of such precedents, a special supervisory body was created to monitor such transactions. Their activities extend to the online industry. Therefore, if the origin of your funds raises the suspicion of the casino operator, then the money can be frozen until the results of the verification are received.

4. Local regulation. Sometimes local state gambling regulators impose very strict rules regarding KYC and other identification procedures. It’s done to protect the rights of the players and for the tax reporting of each of them. This procedure takes a different amount of time in different countries, but it can also cause delays in payments.

5. Lack of automation. Despite the fact that it is already the 21st century and most financial transactions have long been digitized, you can still find online casinos in which all payments to players are manually approved by brand employees (accountants, inspectors, and others). This greatly slows down the withdrawal process.

6. Small teams. It often seems that gambling is big business. But in fact, the teams of many online casinos consist of only 5-10 people. This amount is often not enough to make internal communication and tasks (such as withdrawing winnings) really fast.

7. Wagering. The player has used the Welcome, No Deposit, or any other bonus and is claiming the winnings. You should always remember that in online casinos there is such a term as Wagering. It means that after using the bonuses you are obliged to use your received amount (real money deposit + bonus money) several times (most often x30-50) and until you do this, you will not be able to collect your winnings. On the one hand, someone may call it a trap, on the other hand, everything is fair because, under each bonus in licensed casinos, there is a description that lists all these requirements. Be careful and remember that you can’t increase your winning chances using bonuses!

8. Casinos allow you to withdraw money in installments (parts). This is a common trick that online casinos can use quite legally. Each casino has daily/weekly/monthly withdrawal limits. It’s done in order for the gambler to spend part of the funds that he planned to withdraw by playing slots.

What caused the indignation of the players?

Everything is simple. When a player can’t get his winnings, this is unfair. If he has to wait a long time for the return of his funds (after all, brands accept deposits in just 30 minutes, and payments can be made for months) - this is very angry. Imagine that you deposited $3,000 in a casino and won $10,000, and casino representatives told you that you could receive this money in 2 months. What will be your reaction?

The impact of payout speed on the iGaming industry

On the one hand, every online casino brand can use payout speed as its competitive advantage. Players really appreciate when they are given the opportunity to quickly and seamlessly withdraw their winnings and reward the brand with constant new deposits and bets. This point develops the industry and makes the casino get better.

On the other hand, when a negative scenario works and someone is not paid money, the niche suffers. Because of such cases, many consider casinos to be scammers, which can have a bad effect on attracting new players.

How to deal with untimely (slow) withdrawal rates in online casinos?

We have prepared a short list of actions:

1. Contact online casino support and create a ticket to resolve your issue.

2. Submit complaints on gambling community sites (such as AskGamblers).

3. Write a letter with a complaint to the local regulator or brand licensee.

4. Leave your feedback on gambling forums (such as GPWA).

Conclusions

The speed of payments in online gambling, in comparison with other parameters, plays a decisive role for the user as a criterion for choosing an online casino and as a description of his behavioral experience. The fastest casino payment method is cryptocurrencies. The slowest is bank transfers.