SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
“There’s been a shift, but for the last year there has been a lot of insecurity within the operator space.”
This began a recent deep-dive into the Brazilian and LatAm market in general as OKTO Commercial Director, Galina Bineva, adopted a Latin American focus during a recent sit down with SBC Media.
Despite a plethora of global jurisdictions being on the radar of the digital payments group, and also forming a key part of proceedings on the SBC Summit Latinoamérica show floor, the world’s fifth largest country by total area, together with Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile and Peru captured much attention
As excitement engulfs the industry at the LatAm opportunities that may well lie ahead, Bineva cautions on the need to be mindful amid the rapidly changing dynamics of the market.
“The operators that are planning to have a long-term presence on the market should be equipped with solid partners, and very reliable and robust payment technology,” Bineva began.
In order to succeed, she continued, operators must ensure that they work together with their payments across all relevant aspects in order to achieve the necessary efficiencies that players crave.
“For example, what we are doing at OKTO is managing the whole process, from customer onboarding to enhanced anti-fraud, risk checks, transaction monitoring, responsible gaming, and 24/7 local customer support,” Bineva noted on the precedent that the company aims to enforce across all of its jurisdictions. “Operational excellence blended with localised payment solutions across each region is what OKTO does since its inception”
In support of achieving its own ambitions within Brazil, OKTO has made the decision to join the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming.
This, it was noted, not only stemmed from a continued desire to promote responsible financial transactions within the online betting industry, but also as a reflection of dedication “to foster a more conscious market.”
Bineva elaborated: “We aim to play a pivotal role in educating players and all stakeholders involved in the ecosystem by partnering with IBGR.
“We believe we can ensure that our payment solutions uphold the highest standards of integrity and safety, while also contributing to the broader mission of cultivating responsible online gaming in Brazil, and this is exactly what we follow across all regions we are operating in or entering, collaborating with local stakeholders in order to ensure socially responsible solutions, secure and fully compliant.”
Casting a slightly wider net across the continent, Bineva looked at the challenges that operators are faced with in a bid to achieve those loft internal ambitions. A “unique and particular set of dynamics”, country specific challenges, and response required in order to combat those, were acknowledged as the potential keys to success.
“What I see as a common challenge is the success rate, the completion times of deposits and withdrawals,” she explained.
“Merchants are usually interested in customer acquisition, and to have a partnership with payments companies that can cover the whole suite of methods on the market, and in multiple markets if they’re interested in more than just one geography.
“We are partnering up with them in other territories already, so there is an existing relationship and existing knowledge that makes the dynamic of the relationship more trusted and more effortless.
“OKTO offers a unified platform across LatAm. So it’s a matter of one time integration for the merchant to start processing with us and unlock multiple local payment methods for each region for both pay-ins and payouts.
“What we offer in LatAm is a mixture of auto technology and local knowledge, thanks to the experts we have on the ground and perfected flows and customer journeys.”
In addition to a range of other options available, this regional expertise comprises the likes of SPEI in Mexico, “one of the most used payment methods in the market”, in addition to PagoEfectivo in Peru, “which again is a leading payment method corresponding to payments via cash and bank transfers”.
“And apart from the local payment methods, we also have our omni-channel wallet solution, as well as our OKTO.CASH, a cash-to-digital payment method across numerous markets enabling phygital payment experiences”, it was added.
Bineva concluded by elaborating on just how OKTO can help operators with the enhanced checks associated with regulation.
“OKTO.CASH is already successful in Europe, and one of the key reasons is the fact that it is designed to comply with the local regulations,” she concluded.
“We help our merchants unlock the potential of the cash paying customer base by applying specific customer rules that are required per country, such as a customised set of rules of player identification, KYC checks, and respective limits.
“This process is embedded in flawless customer experience within the operators’ sites and apps, which makes the payment process fast, convenient, secure and efficient for both ends.”
