Are innovative payment methods the key to attracting a global gaming audience?

Bryan Cherrett has more than 15 years’ experience in the gaming industry, having worked as both operator and acquirer, with a keen interest in payments. Away from work, Bryan is passionate about family and sports and believes in a “never give up” attitude.

Soft2Bet is using its experience in gaming, which spans slots, tournaments, live casino and sports betting, to propel itself into a leading position in the payments vertical. The supplier already supports more than 10 brands, including YoyoCasino, CampoBet, LightCasino and ZuluBet. 

When planning its future investments, Soft2Bet aims for creative solutions, with an emphasis on speed to market, and has integrated over 100 payment providers to date. Their head of payments operations, Bryan Cherrett, believes this strategy is now paying off and its foresight is helping it forge ahead of the competition.

“Soft2Bet thrives in being among the first to offer credible payment solutions that no one else has on the market,” he explains. “To name a few – creative open bank solutions, P2P solutions and also in early stages we are considering NFT technology vis à vis payment options.”

Leading from the front has given Soft2Bet the means to accommodate a wide geographic reach, continues Cherrett, with the management of different currencies and the subsequent risks all handled through a localised strategy.

“We have professional local people who head all of our core and emerging markets and provide professional insight into the particular market,” he explains. “This helps us to offer top notch products and solutions, which are tailor-made for that particular region. 

“Risks are also dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and we have measures in place per country or region, rather than one that fits all.”

Strength in numbers

Its expansive product range is supported by a network of external partners that help ensure a high standard of player protection, which Cherrett describes as an integral component of Soft2Bet’s strategy. Collaborations with the likes of regtech specialists MuchBetter gives the company a wider pool of expertise to choose from, enhancing its offering and customer base.

“We believe in our partners,” Cherrett says. “Without these partnerships we could have never become what we are today and what we aim to be in the coming weeks and months. The partnership with MuchBetter is just one of the most recent ones – we feel that the personal touch we have with our partners has helped take us to the next level.

“We pride ourselves on the way we show support in difficult personal times and believe in hearing what they have to say.”

Another notable partnership for the provider is their deal with Onfido, which provided reliable identity verification and a KYC solution. Each deal has had a positive impact on the Soft2Bet strategy, Cherrett believes.

“As a company, it is not our sole interest to make money – we are passionate about the wellbeing of our players, and so adhere to the regulatory requirements and pay particular attention to factors such as bettors playing within their limits.

“Now that we have KYC tools such as these in place, we intend to safeguard the security of our players and make sure that the player that is registered on our end is the actual person authorising the payments.”

Adapt and grow

This underlying support structure allows Soft2Bet to continually look at expansion opportunities, and devise the creative solutions that allow them to take advantage of these. Of course, that means cryptocurrencies are in the supplier’s sights. 

As cryptocurrencies emerge into the mainstream, and with the trend looking likely to continue, companies must adapt to this new mainstream form of payment, Cherrett believes. Soft2Bet is keeping ahead of the curve as this rapidly changing phenomenon shapes the way we look at the payment landscape.

“Cryptocurrencies have been discussed for quite a time now but it seems that many companies are still scared to dive into it,” he says. 

“From our perspective, this is mainly due to the concern that many don’t fully understand how much they are paying for a transaction in fiat value, since it seems that human beings always want to calculate their spend in a more traditional currency.

“At Soft2Bet, we are monitoring closely how we can develop a crypto product that is fully understandable for all players, with clear explanation as to what is being paid and what is expected to be received. Simplification for this method is what we are after.”

New horizons

Also crucial will be the continued growth of the business. As a company in a sector that is expanding and evolving, Soft2Bet plans to evolve with the market to maintain its high standard of tailored solutions.

“The payments world is in constant flux,” Cherrett says. “The changes in the past few months, from 3DS2 (a multi-factor authentication protocol used to confirm digital identity during checkout) to open banking, show that this part of the business is very much alive and kicking. 

“At Soft2Bet we are ensuring that we have specialised tailored payment options for all our players, since an EU player does not expect to have the same solutions that we offer to our LatAm players and vice versa.”

Ultimately, he continues, the business has to be open and active around the world, moving in tandem with its partners.

Going forward, Cherrett says that Soft2Bet want to continue utilising the “very good relationships” they have with their partners.

“Going into the future, we are suggesting payment products that they can develop to help them thrive.”