From the ruins of Wirecard emerges an opportunity for an innovative and agile payment provider to replace it as the market leading payment provider.
Currently, there is no provider stepping up to fill the void left by Wirecard’s downfall.
In the near future, it is highly likely that Netflix will produce a documentary or even a miniseries about the rise and fall of Wirecard due to the abundance of captivating material.
While not as entertaining as the Elisabeth Holmes (Theranos) scandal yet, the stories of Marcus Braun and Jan Marsalek and their quirky behavior have contributed to one of the fastest imploding verticals in the industry.
The collapse of Wirecard has had a significant impact on the fintech, e-commerce, and gambling industries, with the full extent of the damage still not fully understood.
Managing payments and reconciliations has become increasingly difficult in most European territories, due to both increasing legislation and the underperformance of payment providers.
The demise of Wirecard has led to higher prices for customers of other payment service providers, and conversion rates for certain credit cards have reached an all-time low.
The future of payments was already looking bleak before the pandemic hit.
The gambling industry is particularly affected by the lack of reliable payment solutions, with fragmented options, slow response times, and high costs.
A radical solution is needed that embraces the use of cryptocurrency for transactions and integrates with existing payment service providers.
This solution should offer a seamless e-wallet experience, support multiple territories, and enable easy exchanges between coins and currencies.
An immersive user experience and intuitive workflow for all payment activities are crucial, as well as the ability to deposit funds into gambling operators using multiple merchant gateways.
Additionally, the use of own-named accounts to facilitate withdrawals regardless of territories is important, allowing users to have a unique IBAN for each user and access their funds on a daily basis.
Such a solution is already being developed by a major player and is expected to be released globally later this year.
This is urgently needed to prevent further erosion of operator margins and potential collapse of the gambling industry.
The question remains: who will lead the revolution in gambling payments?
Julian Buhagiar, co-founder of RB Capital, is an investor, CEO, and board director with extensive experience in gaming, fintech, and media markets, having led investments, M&As, and exits totaling over $370m.
