iGaming operators are at a crossroads in 2025. The global iGaming market is growing, and it’s growing fast. By 2027, it will have doubled in size compared to 2020, up to $128billion. The European market alone is already well over $42 billion.

But as the size of the opportunity has increased, so has the scale and complexity of the challenge. Rising regulatory scrutiny means iGaming firms are spending an average of $5.3million on compliance infrastructure. And at the same time, players are ever-more demanding in what they expect from your brand.

This is particularly true when it comes to the onboarding experience. 6 in 10 players will abandon a signup process that takes over 5 minutes. And out of those who do actually sign up, only 1 in 3 ever make a deposit.

So what’s making your onboarding journey so leaky? Why are operators struggling so much? In this article, we look at the four biggest reasons why onboarding is painful, and — most importantly — what you can do about it.

1. Lengthy onboarding forms and slow verification lead to high abandonment rates

The most tangible challenge for new players wanting to make an initial deposit with your brand is simply how long and manual the onboarding process is. Signup is riddled with friction – multiple screens, manual data entry, documents to find and scan, days waiting for your account to be approved. And unsurprisingly, prospective players are allergic to friction, ready to jump to a competitor with the lowest barrier to play.

Thanks to research in conjunction with YouGov, we discovered exactly how players feel about onboarding:

• 79% say verification approval time is a very important factor when signing up

• 58% of prospective players would abandon an account creation process that takes more than 5 minutes

• 41% of players will abandon a signup process that takes too long and/or has too many steps

Knowing that manual signup processes typically take a lot longer than five minutes, the average player isn’t getting the user experience they clearly demand.

2. Manual verification + outdated payment methods = lost revenue

Traditional Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti money laundering (AML) verification checks can take up to 72 hours to verify new users. But if it takes more than 24 hours, 86% of visitors will abandon the process and go elsewhere.

While slow verification is clearly a conversion killer, even players who successfully navigate the verification process are more likely than not to never make a deposit. And that hard-earned signup is all for nothing if it doesn't translate into a successful first-time deposit and a funded account.

Our own research shows only one-third of players ever complete their first-time deposit after registering. Again, it’s the combination of manual input and lengthy forms that mean you’re missing out on revenue. Convoluted payment experiences (where 39% of dropoffs happen), are simply another opportunity for time-short players to abandon the process.

3. Legitimate players don’t trust manual signup processes, while fraudsters exploit it for bonus abuse

If the friction of slow and manual payments are one side of the onboarding coin, then security is the other. Players want speed AND security, and it can often feel impossible to balance that exacting expectation.

For example, 32% of players worry about the security of their information. That is the second-most common reason for abandoning signup after the length of the signup process. For example, 55% of players would switch to a brand that offered instant withdrawals. This is something they likely won’t be enjoying if they were forced to make their first-time — and subsequent deposits — using card payments with slow payout settlement times.

Meanwhile, manual signup is a boost for fraudsters and other bad actors, in particular when it comes to bonus abuse. Bonus abuse is where some players purposefully exploit new customer promotions by creating multiple accounts.

4. Outdated payment methods reduce customer lifetime value

Considering all the barriers in the way of successful onboarding and deposit, you’d be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief when new customers do successfully make their first deposit.

But the highest-value players are ones that stick with your brand over a long period of time, and a consistently good payment experience is a key part of building long-term loyalty.

Card payments also come with high fees for deposits and payouts, making them a costly choice in more ways than one.

So, what can you do about it?

Despite the challenges of player onboarding, there are ways to better meet your customer demands, better satisfy KYC and AML requirements, and maximise customer lifetime value.

TrueLayer’s Signup+, for example, combines player registration and first deposit into a single seamless step. It removes onboarding friction, letting users register, verify their identity, and use Pay by Bank to fund their account in less than 60 seconds, satisfying even the most demanding of potential players.

By using Pay by Bank for the initial deposit, players have near-instant access to start playing, and as following deposits default to Pay by Bank also, every top up experience is just as seamless and quick, leading to better lifetime value, with players less likely to move to a competitor. With Pay by Bank, players can also withdraw their winnings instantly. something that 85% of players look for in an iGaming operator.

Players also typically trust bank-powered verification more than manual methods. 6 in 10 people (64%) said they were more likely to trust a verification process if it were done through their bank. Bank-verified identity data eliminates manual data entry, ensuring accuracy and preventing errors.

That same dank-verified data also means Signup+ virtually eliminates bonus abuse, because fraudsters and bad actors are unable to set up multiple accounts to exploit promotions.

Find out more about why iGaming operators are increasingly turning to TrueLayer to power their onboarding and first-time deposit experiences.