Interview with Bojoko's Christoffer Ødegården on the Importance of Payment Methods in the iGaming Sphere

The competition is fierce in the iGaming industry, and player attention, let alone loyalty, is hard-earned. In this interview, we speak to Christoffer Ødegården, the Head of Casinos of one of the UK's biggest and most acclaimed affiliate platforms, Bojoko.com. 

He argues that many operators not only under-evaluate but misunderstand the importance of payment methods. To him, they are more than just transactional; they're promotional tools that can significantly increase player acquisition. 

In this exclusive interview to Bohdan Lytvyn, Ødegården shares how diversifying payment methods based on customer data can help casinos stay ahead of the curve and reach players they otherwise wouldn't reach.

Can you share your thoughts on why offering a diverse selection of payment methods is critical for iGaming companies?

Payment methods in the iGaming industry are not just transactional tools; they are promotional tools. 

It is not just a case of players signing up and excited to play but stopping at the payment gateway, as it doesn't support their preferred method. This happens, of course, but it is not how the user journey tends to go today.

Bojoko.com operates in the UK gaming sector, which is the biggest iGaming market in the world, and British players have clearly learned to be discerning. If payment methods are important to them, their journey starts with them actively searching for casinos with their go-to payment option, and we cater to them.

Let me give you a practical example. Maestro is a fairly popular payment method among Brits, but the large majority of UK casinos do not offer it. As this is the case, Maestro users will therefore actively look for it, which will lead them to Bojoko's overview of Maestro casinos and similar pages at our competitors. 

If you go to our page, you will see that less than 50 brands with this payment method are reviewed on our website. These are the casinos that will compete for the Maestro players.

The same goes for so many other payment methods. Simply adding them to your banking section will give you access to additional affiliate pages with high conversion rates.

This is why iGaming companies need to offer a wide range of payment methods to accommodate diverse preferences and regional requirements. Every additional payment option can mean thousands of additional players gained or lost.

That makes sense. Which payment methods do you consider essential for these companies to include?

There are the obvious ones, like Visa, and e-wallets like PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and so on, but the real opportunity lies in underrepresented niche methods. As I mentioned, Maestro, for instance, is particularly popular in Europe. Then there's the rise of digital wallets, which has expanded well beyond the previously mentioned. Neosurf and Trustly are also musts today.

Another absolute must is payment methods that let you pay via your phone bill, such as Boku and Siru. You should also not discount Paysafecard, especially in the UK.

What's the biggest challenge in implementing these niche payment methods?

The only real challenge is if your casino is hosted on a platform that handles your payment methods and other functionalities for you. In these cases, it is not actually up to you, and you will have to lobby the platform company to get the changes you need to grow your player base. 

If this is not the case, there are just minor trifles, such as ensuring that the payment method is licensed or otherwise allowed to operate in your market. Of course, every payment method comes with its own technical requirements and regulatory compliance needs, but these challenges are minor and once integrated, the payoff is substantial. 

How many players could a company lose if they don't diversify their payment methods?

It's hard to give an exact figure, and to be frank; I like to think of it more as players you can gain. If you work with a large set of affiliates, you have a limited selection of payment methods at the moment and then add all the key niche options you are missing, you could be looking at hundreds of additional players per month.

Of course, there are additional hurdles to getting affiliate exposure, such as how well your brand is likely to convert with its players and your actual affiliate deals. Be sure to speak with your affiliate partners about optimising your exposure.

That's significant! What further advice would you give iGaming companies that want to improve their payment offerings?

Start with your core markets and analyse payment preferences there. After that, build a road map to integrate and test new methods, beginning with niche methods that have high adoption rates. 

A quick and effective way to simplify this research is to reach out to your affiliate partners and ask which payment method pages are likely to send you the most traffic and make choices from there.