There’s a strange paradox when it comes to payments in regulated industries like iGaming.

Operators live or die by the strength of their payment experience, because players expect — even demand — fast and simple payments whenever they play. But the very nature of regulation means that payments is one of the trickiest areas to get right while still adhering to compliance requirements and best practice that is there to protect your players (even the most demanding ones).

The perfect example of this push and pull is the moment of payout. Your players want their winnings instantly (85% say instant withdrawals are very important). But closed-loop requirements — where the payment has to go back to the same person and same bank account — mean card-based pay ins have historically needed slow and error-prone card-based payouts.

But that changes today. TrueLayer has launched a genuine first-of-its-kind solution, called Verified Payouts.

Instant, fully compliant withdrawals to the right bank account every time

In short, Verified Payouts allows you to first verify your players and their bank account using their previous card transaction data via automated transaction and name verification. Then, you can instantly and reliably pay out their winnings, directly to their bank account using account to account payment rails. And automated retries and intelligent rerouting cut failed payments and reduce customer service queries.

“

Verified Payouts allows our customers to use Pay to Bank for withdrawals, regardless of which method they last deposited...It is safer and more convenient for our customers and more efficient for Smarkets.

William Chambers, COO

It ensures that payouts are made to the right place every time – reducing fraud, preventing misdirected payments, eliminating costly manual processes and increasing customer satisfaction, all while closing the loop and satisfying all regulatory guidance.

Plus, once your player has made one withdrawal with Verified Payouts, the payout experience for future withdrawals is even simpler, with a 99.7% returning user payout success rate.

It also makes it easier to switch your players to Pay by Bank for pay ins to further reduce your reliance on costly card payments, all as part of a seamless payment journey for your players.

Among the first merchants to go live with Verified Payouts is sports betting exchange Smarkets:

“Smarkets is dedicated to giving customers the best possible product experience, so we are excited to use Verified Payouts to help ease a common pain point around withdrawals”, said William Chambers, COO at Smarkets. “Verified Payouts allows our customers to use Pay to Bank for withdrawals, regardless of which method they last deposited with, by maintaining closed loop safeguards. It is safer and more convenient for our customers and more efficient for Smarkets."

Players only remember the payout that failed. Not the hundreds that worked

Like all breakthroughs, Verified Payouts didn’t appear in isolation. It came out of listening to merchants.

Operators told us they were stuck. Regulatory guidance meant they had to rely on outdated card processes, even when they knew the experience was failing customers. As one operator put it: “When payouts go wrong, customers don’t remember the hundreds of times it went right. They only remember the one time it failed.”

During co-creation workshops to explore a potential solution, we heard the same challenges over and over again:

• "Card-based payouts typically aren’t instant"

• "Card-based payouts are prone to failing"

• "Card-based payouts lead to customer churn"

• "Some card-based payouts still need manual verification"

• "Card-based payouts typically come with high fees"

And operators are far from naive. They know potential solutions exist, like TrueLayer’s existing Payouts product. But Payouts is built on the premise of paying out to a player who paid in using account to account payments, not cards.

This is why the collaborative design process has been so important. It’s allowed us to create, from scratch, a solution that really addressed the challenges of existing payouts, both in terms of the immediate reduction in costs and manual processes, and — perhaps even more importantly — a strategy to move players to seamless and cost effective Pay by Bank pay ins minimising the risk of churn from changing the users payment method.

[Link to Michael’s behind the scenes article]

Beyond the quick win: a strategic shift

While the short-term ROI of Verified Payouts is clear, the long-term value is even greater.

For years, iGaming operators have understood the advantages of Pay by Bank: it’s cheaper, faster, and more secure than cards. But change can be unsettling — operators naturally worry that any disruption in the player journey could lead to churn.

Verified Payouts solve this problem. By tying withdrawals to Pay by Bank, operators can introduce players to the new method in a way that feels natural and seamless. The next time those players make a deposit they are defaulted to the Pay by Bank payment flow, with their bank and their specific bank account already pre-selected.

Verified Payouts don’t just improve withdrawals — they accelerate the adoption of Pay by Bank, which means:

• Automated account linking that streamlines future deposits and withdrawals, driving retention and increased payment volumes

• Minimised churn due to expiring card details, forgotten passwords, or declined transactions, ensuring players stay engaged

• Operators benefiting from reduced total payment costs over time as players shift to Pay by Bank for future deposits, eliminating reliance on card networks and the high costs they incur

An end-to-end payment stack: is this the beginning end of the end for cards?

Think of iGaming payments as a journey: from sign-up, to deposit, to withdrawal , with the deposit and withdrawal parts hopefully repeating as part of a long customer lifecycle with your brand.

Until now, the industry has lacked a truly end-to-end solution that covers every stage of that journey, without the need for card payments. But with Signup+, Pay by Bank, and now Verified Payouts, operators have the complete stack from TrueLayer:

• Signup+ ensures players can quickly and securely onboard.

• Pay by Bank powers fast, low-cost deposits.

• Verified Payouts deliver instant, verified withdrawals.

So does that mean card payments are about to disappear? Cards won’t go anywhere quickly, of course. They’re too ingrained in consumer behaviour to vanish instantly. But with Verified Payouts completing the Pay by Bank puzzle, the momentum shifts. Players experience first-hand how smooth Pay by Bank can be, and operators now have a compelling way to move them away from costly, inefficient card rails.

For iGaming this is both an operational improvement and a competitive advantage. In a market where customer loyalty is fragile, getting every step in the payment journey right is vital.

Speak to a Pay by Bank expert

Verified Payouts is a first-of-its-kind solution from TrueLayer. Whatever your team’s technical capability, we’ve got simple, tailored ways to integrate it into your payments stack and transform your payout experience.

Talk to one of our Pay by Bank experts to see how Verified Payouts can help your brand.