It should come as no surprise to discover that consumer trust is key to success for any business. As everything becomes increasingly digitised, the need to ensure consumer trust is paramount across all industries.
But, within the iGaming world, trust is essential and in fact what drives engagement and retention. It’s also all to do with the payment method, and the way casinos and betting platforms handle security, transparency and speed of all transactions. For instance, the best online casinos that payout do so quickly and efficiently. There are no surprise fees, no high withdrawal requirements and so on. As such, consumers develop trust in the brand and keep coming back. Let’s take a look in more detail.
Why trust requirements have changed
Before digitisation, making a purchase was all done with cash. Customers walked to a store, handed over money and took the products. Everyone could see the money, where it went and so on, making it a trusted transaction. However, then the cards came along. The same trust had to be built and was initiated with signing receipts. After that, chip and PIN came in, which made the process simpler, faster, but again, had to go through rebuilding trust in the system. The need for trust has not disappeared. In fact, it’s stronger and more required than ever before.
The fundamental requirement of trust has remained the same. But it does need to be earned. And this is through things like multi-factor authentication, customer authentication, digital ID and so on. These aren’t just about ticking off regulation boxes, but are inextricably linked with the foundation of trust in this digital era. Once a purveyor or operator loses trust, it’s not just a lost sale, but potentially a lost customer. And there are many reasons to why trust can be lost.
When trust is lost
There are various ways trust in a payment method can be lost. Of course, it takes a long time to build, but just a minute of online frustration can cause the trust to be lost for ever. Here are some of the reasons trust is lost when making online payments:
Unexpected fees
High withdrawal limits
Slow transaction times
Limited security
Too many security hoops to go through
Sharing too much personal data
As such, there’s a fine line for operators and sellers to balance when it comes offering secure, trusted platforms for making payments.
Trust changes consumer behaviour
There are a variety of ways that trust has changed the way consumers behave. For example, in the UK, consumers take reviews very seriously. Even though these are from strangers, consumers need to know what other people think. In fact, around 8% of all shoppers say that price is the first thing they consider. Trust beats out price and consequently, breaking trust has long-lasting ramifications.
Failed payments is another reason that causes distrust. It’s frustrating, time-consuming and results in consumers often leaving the site and not completing a purchase at all. Difficult payment experiences cause people to leave, which really highlights the importance of protecting player-operator relationships. At the end of the day, the loss of trust results in the same thing — disappearing consumers.
With this in mind, merchants and operators need to carefully consider which payment methods they provide. Players and consumers can simply leave because their preferred method is not available. And, with the increase in global connectivity, disappear if their specific currency isn’t available. All of this results in a negative experience, and one which the consumer will likely write about. Not only will the business lose that customer, but potentially many more.