The payments industry is a constantly evolving landscape that comes with new regulations and challenges that force operators and suppliers to adapt almost seemingly on the fly. 

But when it pertains to established mature markets, do these challenges continue to exist, or in fact, is there such a thing as a mature market? 

At the opening press conference of the new Payment Expert Summit at SBC Summit Lisbon, five leaders from the payments and gambling industries came together to discuss how operators and suppliers can help one another to achieve regulatory clarity. 

Moderator Andrea McGeachin, CEO of Neosurf, pondered a question to the panel asking for some of the best examples of a mature payment or gambling market and the answer was, surprisingly, none. 

Whilst the UK has often been heralded for its position as not only a leader in payments but also one of the shining examples of an established gambling market, recent developments over the past few years involving the Gambling Act White Paper have raised fresh questions regarding affordability checks. 

Isabelle Delisle, Global Head of Payment Solutions at Pinnacle, cited the UK and other perceived mature markets as facing constant challenges to its regulatory guidelines as these concerns from consumers and policymakers alike force operators and suppliers to make the necessary changes. 

She explained that emerging markets which have experienced mass amounts of volume over the past few years are now implementing their own regulatory frameworks, such as the upcoming online sports betting market in Brazil. 

But because these emerging markets are beginning to form their frameworks, they will continually be posed with the necessary compliance standards needed for operators to not only gain access to that market, but also uphold the requirements to better protect their players. 

This brought about the added question of how best for operators and suppliers to best optimise their integrations within these regulated markets. For some, like Delisle and Pinnacle, their 25-year-old techstack system has served them well. 

She revealed that Pinnacle’s key and dynamic APIs are vital for the company to maintain the large payment processing volumes needed, but also acknowledged that updating these somewhat legacy systems is a challenge as new and emerging standards develop.

One company who has had to adjust more than most is LeoVegas, noted by its Director of Payments Product and Technology, Christian Reinheimer

He explained that whilst most regulations are still evolving, for multi-market operators like LeoVegas, a complexity of regulatory compliances challenges the ability to provide a further range of alternative payment methods. 

Reinheimer also explained how both operators and suppliers in the payments and gambling industries have to contend with changing regulations on anti-money laundering, and how the supplier is of the utmost importance to helping to guide the operator with not only the best solutions, but the right knowledge. 

The conversation then bled into the topic of data sharing, which can possess the ability to almost instantly solve much of the consumer protection compliance standards placed upon operators. 

Simon Dorsen, Chief Commercial Officer at OKTO, believes that data sharing is becoming a “prerequisite” for companies to become involved. He shared that whilst it is important to remain compliant, companies must not lose sight of the end consumer by removing friction of these various security parameters to better ensure a smoother user experience. 

Much of the data sharing conundrum has often traced back to Open Banking. The groundbreaking payment technology is now being called upon by those in the payments industry, and the UK government too, to be introduced to streamline affordability checks. 

But as Reinheimer notes, this can be “very intrusive” to consumers who may be unwilling to share sensitive information. 

This then brings forward the belief of the balancing act between operators and suppliers. Suppliers will have to find best practices to inform the operator on the benefits of Open Banking, whilst the operator will need to find the best solution for its end user. 

This sentiment was underscored by VP of Gaming at Trustly, Vasilije Lekovic, who believes that suppliers must anticipate regulations to inform operators of their impending implementation. 

To conclude, he shared why the need for a more streamlined partnership between operator and supplier is more paramount than ever as new regulations continue to be proposed in both the payments and gambling industries.