Advanced payment methods like mobile wallets and cryptocurrencies are transforming online gaming with their speed, security and low fees. Indeed, credit card transactions are reducing while real-time payments are on the rise.
Today’s best payment companies offer many benefits that banks and credit cards lack. In this article, we’ll talk about these advantages. More importantly, we’ll highlight how they’re transforming the gaming industry.
Fast Transactions
If you want to buy a digital game fast, your best bet lies in using a real-time payment method such as Apple Pay, GPay or Cash App. The first two payment apps are especially convenient for buying games available on Play Stores.
The explanation is simple. Apple owns Apple Pay while Google owns GPay. Cash App is popular among gamers due to its many features. For example, it allows you to buy crypto, invest in stocks and complete gaming purchases online.
To be clear, cash app supports video game payments and not Internet gambling transactions. Expect a cash app gambling ban if you use the app to send or receive money from an online casino.
How fast are today’s mobile payment companies? Most mobile wallets process payments instantly. Cryptocurrencies are equally fast although it depends on the exact coin. For example, Ripple can process a payment in seconds. Bitcoin takes 10 minutes.
Low Charges
The cost of transacting online has been reducing over the years. In the 1990s, credit cards and banks charged exorbitant fees to buy stuff online. Now, you can buy video game skins or deposit money to a casino without even paying charges.
That’s right. Some mobile wallets don’t charge you when transacting with online businesses. They charge the merchants instead. Where you experience charges, the fees are relatively small.
You can expect to pay a few cents for every transaction your complete using a digital wallet like GPay. With crypto, the fees are so low that you could send millions of dollars while paying pennies as fees.
Crypto has low fees because it is a decentralized ledger with no intermediary. The fees users pay are used as rewards for the people who keep the blockchain safe.
Enhancing Accessibility
Advanced payment methods make it easier for people around the world to transact online. Take GPay as an example. It allows you to pay for any video game content fast, securely and at a low cost.
Unfortunately, GPay is available in only a handful of countries. PayPal offers a wider reach—it operates in 200+ countries. If you can’t access PayPal, however, you have countless options.
For example, you can use EcoPayz, Trustly, Skrill and Neteller throughout Europe. You can also use Wise, Boku or Cash App. Bitcoin is yet another excellent option. It operates globally, meaning anyone can use it.
Bitcoin’s borderless nature is one of the reasons gaming fans love it. You can use it to transact with fellow gamers even if you both live in opposite sides of the world. It also promotes privacy; hence reduce the risks of data theft.
Advanced Security
Advanced payment methods use sophisticated security features to keep your data and funds safe. Each company has unique ways of protecting its customers. Generally, all these payment methods encrypt your data.
They use SSL for data encryption. They also offer a variety of ways to secure your accounts, from passwords and 2FA to biometric authentication and special pin codes.
By law, modern payment companies must keep customers’ funds in separate bank accounts. They can’t mix company money with clients’ funds. Also, they must insure this money.
Additionally, digital payment methods must use a plethora of security tools like VPNs, antiviruses and anti DDoS software to keep their systems secure from hackers.
Crypto offers additional security through its blockchain. The system is decentralized and tamperproof, meaning no one can alter data stored on the Blockchain. No one can steal funds stored on the system either.
Transparency
Todays’ payment providers no longer hide their policies. Increased regulation has forced banking companies to operate with transparency. Not only do payment companies reveal their data privacy policies but they also must be clear about their fees and limits.
The European Parliament created the first major data privacy policy in 2018. This law authorized every online business operating within the EU to comply with certain data collection policies.
For example, websites must ask for permission before they can collect your data. They also allow you to decide the type of data a company can collect from you and how it should be used.
While mobile wallets are becoming transparent due to changing regulations, Bitcoin was founded to be transparent from scratch. The blockchain stores data transparently albeit permanently and securely.
Innovative Features
When you think about it, payment companies are responsible for some of the best innovations in the world of gaming. For example, crypto is the reason we have play to earn games and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
Play to earn games reward you for doing something you would usually do for fun. NFTs allow you to monetize your in-game assets—skins, characters and virtual real estate.
In the online casino sector, digital wallet Trustly created a platform that allows you to play casino games without creating accounts. Trustly helps process payments. It also does identity verifications to eliminate the main reason casinos ask for account creation.
Still on innovations, many mobile wallets now have recurring payment feature that lets you make regular payments to your favorite streamers or games. This feature is helpful if you love to support your favorite gaming content creators.
Supporting Micropayments
Back when bank payments were highly popular, it was impossible to complete small transactions online. Banks usually charge a minimum of $20 in fees. So, if you wanted to buy a skin valued at $1, you would need to pay 20 times the amount in charges.
Now, payment companies have lowered their fees significantly. They’ve also reduced the minimum you can transact. Most of them allow you to transact as little as 10 cents.
