13 June, 2022

In focus: Nuvei - Bringing the Real-Time Payments Network to the US Gaming Industry

In 2021, Nuvei was the first payments provider to bring real-time bank transfer payouts to the US gaming industry. Now Nuvei is doing it again with real-time deposits

In 2021, Nuvei was the first payments provider to solve the single biggest pain point for US gaming players by bringing true instant withdrawals to the industry. By exclusively partnering with leading financial institutions, we enabled players to withdraw funds from their gaming accounts directly to their bank accounts instantly using the Clearing House’s Real Time Payments Network. This was a huge step-change for player experience in regulated US states. Our exclusive partnership with Plaid gives us access to 11,500 banking connections and a seamless deposit and withdrawal experience, including one-click deposits and payouts for returning players.

We offer RTP network payments to all our partners in US gaming and currently 70% of all Nuvei Instant Bank Transfer payouts take place via an instant payment on the RTP network. This figure is purely limited by the players’ bank accounts not being connected to the RTP network.

The benefits of real-time deposits

And in another industry first, we recently announced that Nuvei and Fifth Third Bank had partnered to launch real time deposits as well.

Unlike traditional deposits across the ACH Network payment system, which can take days to settle, real-time deposits move from a player’s bank account to a merchant’s bank account by leveraging the Request for Payment feature available on the RTP network. The “good funds” model reduces fraud and lowers insufficient funds risk. Operators benefit from receiving a positive confirmation status to confirm successful deposits, improving market credibility and trust.

Some of the differences between ACH and Real Time Payments Network include:

  • Time: ACH transactions can take as long as 3-5 business days to complete. With RTP payments the transaction is completed within seconds, clearing is instant and individual for every transaction.
  • Revocability: ACH transactions can be stopped by the sender after the transaction has been initiated. Transactions made via the RTP network cannot.
  • Confirmation status: Payments made via the RTP network are confirmed immediately once the transaction has been completed. ACH payments are not confirmed at any point.
  • Availability: ACH payments are only processed during banking hours. RTP payments are processed 24/7/365.

Guaranteed vs non-guaranteed deposits

Once any gaming deposit is made, the funds become immediately available to the player, despite the transaction between the player’s bank account and the operator taking time to be settled. There is therefore a risk during this lag that the transaction will be declined, which must be assumed by one party. This is the fundamental difference between guaranteed and non-guaranteed transactions.

With guaranteed transactions the liability for declines lies with the payments services provider (PSP). This may be better for operators that do not have sufficient risk management functions and want a more simplified relationship with their payments, but the risk profile is set by the PSP and is inevitably stricter, meaning more transactions will be declined. The
cost-per-acquisition (CPA) is therefore also higher, lowering the lifetime value of the average player. As the PSP also absorbs the risk, fees are also more costly per transaction.

For non-guaranteed transactions, the operator absorbs the financial consequences of accepting transfers that are subsequently declined or found to be fraudulent. However, the big advantage of non-guaranteed deposits is that each operator
sets its own risk tolerance for payment acceptance. Whereas guaranteed payments is a one-size-fits-all solution for operators and necessarily strict by design, as the PSP must limit its own exposure, the non-guaranteed payments model is flexible and customisable. This enables sophisticated operators to approve more transactions, including winning more new customers. This lowers CPA cost and increases average customer lifetime value.

Why the RTP network ends the debate on guaranteed vs non-guaranteed deposits

Deposits made via the RTP network will pull the funds from the player’s bank account immediately through to their gaming account. This will eliminate non-sufficient declines from occurring after the transaction has been processed which account for circa. 90% of declined transactions. This all but makes the guaranteed deposit model obsolete as there simply isn’t the need to offset the risk and cope with the downside of a one-size-fits-all approach.

The benefits of this best-of-both-worlds solution where all operators have risk-free access to the non guaranteed deposit model means it is only a matter of time before non-RTP network-powered transactions become obsolete. Being ahead of the curve instead of behind it will be critical for operators’ costs and winning players.