Want to grow your online gaming business without payment problems killing your momentum?
Every online gaming operator wants to scale up. After all, the industry is exploding:
- More players
- Higher transaction volume
- Bigger revenue numbers
But here’s the problem:
Payment processing is horrible. Gaming is risky for banks, they get a lot of chargebacks and will freeze your account when your business is booming.
Read this article to avoid these common payment pitfalls and discover how to select the best credit card processing services to grow your gaming business confidently.
Let’s jump in!
In this guide:
- Why Online Gaming Is Treated As High-Risk
- The Real Cost Of Payment Problems
- Top 5x High-Risk Merchant Account Providers For Gaming
- How To Scale Without The Payment Drama
Why Online Gaming Is Treated As High-Risk
Online gaming is booming.
The global gaming market size online is expected to reach $208.58 billion in 2024. By 2030, the online gaming market size is expected to increase to $333.20 billion. All that money exchanging hands daily online.
Here’s the kicker though:
Banks and legacy credit card processors don’t see “exciting growth”….they see risk. Online gaming falls into a payment category that makes most processors sweaty palms. Why?
Three reasons:
- High rates of chargebacks – Players frequently dispute charges, usually due to buyer’s remorse.
- Delivering digital goods – Unable to provide tracking number to “prove” delivery occurred.
- Regulation worries – Cross-border payments and age verification add legal weight.
Guess what happens? Normal processors charge you outrageous fees, lock your funds, or close your account outright. This is why most operators upgrade to a dedicated high-risk merchant account tailor-made for gambling businesses. High risk accounts are equipped to handle the unique needs of gaming related credit card processing – higher volumes, risk control tools like chargeback mitigation, and more reasonable rolling reserves.
The Real Cost Of Payment Problems
Most operators don’t realise how much money they’re leaking.
A frozen merchant account does not equal “a couple days down”. It means refunds you cannot issue, players you lose for life, reputation damage that impacts you way after the account is thawed.
Then there’s fraud.
Fraud attacks against online gambling sites increased by more than 60% in just the first few months of 2024. Can you believe that happened in one year?
And it gets worse:
Online gaming and gaming/betting businesses have experienced chargeback rates due to friendly fraud comprising 90% or more of all fraud. In other words, the majority of your chargebacks are not actual fraud, but legitimate customers pressing “dispute” to get refunds on money they paid rightfully.
Roblox reported over $110 million in chargebacks in 2023 alone.
Imagine that hitting a smaller operation… It’s devastating.
Oh and hidden fees. There’s a fee for every chargeback. Then there’s the investigation on top of hours of lost employee time researching. Have enough of those and watch your margins go poof.
The right payment setup protects you from this. The wrong one bleeds you dry.
Top 5x High-Risk Merchant Account Providers For Gaming
Selecting your payment partner is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Meet the top 5x providers designed to service online gaming payments.
In this order.
1. 2Accept
2Accept is the best high-risk merchant account provider for online gaming operators today.
They focus on high risk merchants such as gaming, gambling and digital goods so they know FIRSTHAND about the chargeback and fraud issues you face. Fast approvals, competitive rates, multi-currency and chargeback prevention tools INCLUDED.
Their support understands gaming. They don’t close your account when you get a spike in volume, because they expect you to.
2Accept gives gaming operators rolling reserves, flexible spending accounts and transparent fees with global processing headaches alleviated.
Looking for one-stop shopping for credit card processing services? Look no further.
2. PaymentCloud
PaymentCloud is a solid pick for newer gaming operators getting started.
They work great with high risk companies. Good approval rates with gaming accounts. Fees are steep compared to 2Accept but onboarding is fast.
Best if you have a completely new gaming website and wish to get it up and running without waiting months.
3. Soar Payments
Soar provides competitive credit card processing for merchants who pose a high risk but have low chargebacks.
Easy application process. They service many gaming verticals. Dashboard reporting is clean and intuitive.
4. eMerchantBroker
eMerchantBroker has been in the high-risk space for a long time.
They service industries such as iGaming, online betting, etc. Rates are average however they have chargeback protection built into their tools that smaller companies lack.
5. Durango Merchant Services
Completing the list of stable picks for operators is Durango.
They are a tough underwriter but if you get approved you have long term account protection and chargeback dispute assistance that’s worth the wait.
How To Scale Without The Payment Drama
OK, so now that you know who’s playing, let’s discuss HOW to scale.
Here’s what works:
- Hire a high risk specialist – Don’t bother trying to use normal processors. They will decline you.
- Use multiple processors – Divide your transaction volume over 2-3 accounts in order to reduce freeze risk.
- Sign up for chargeback alerts – Ethoca and Verifi will identify disputes before they affect your ratio.
- Tighten KYC – Improved identity verification upon signup combats fraud and friendly fraud simultaneously.
- Monitor your chargeback ratio – Keep it below 1%.
These steps will cost you next to nothing. …Except money saved in the long run.
The number one mistake operators do is putting payments on the back burner. Payments should be thought of as important as your game is.
If players can’t pay, they don’t play. Simple as that.
Bringing It All Together
Scaling your online gaming business without financial pains relies on one factor. Choosing the right partner.
To quickly recap:
- Online gaming is high-risk and standard processors won’t cut it
- Chargebacks and fraud are the biggest drains on revenue
- 2Accept is the top high-risk merchant account provider for gaming
- Multiple processors and chargeback tools protect your scaling business
- Your payment setup is as important as your game
Do this one thing right and you can scale your game business with ease. Do this one thing wrong and you’ll be caught up in blocked accounts instead of growing your business.
Pick the right partner and watch your business scale.
