Newest Mobile Gambling Insights: Payments, Trends and Marketing

Quite recently, our friends over at FC Business Intelligence published a really interesting paper featuring an interview with three experts, asking them timely questions about the iGaming mobile market.

Taking part in this, are Richard Schuetz – the commissioner of the California Gambling Control Commission, Alex Igleman – a gaming attorney and strategist, Rachel Hirsch – a Senior Associate at Ifrah Law in Baltimore.
Banking Issues for the Gaming Industry
One of the first matters covered in the interview, was the topic of banking issues for iGaming. Asked about the future of mobile wagering payments, Richard Schuetz admitted that there’s a lot of learning that needs to take place before banks will be willing to openly accommodate the gaming market, especially considering the Act of 2006.
Schuetz admits that the best method to get banks on board is to get more people and brands involved, so at some point, banks will no longer be able to afford not working with iGaming transactions.
However, at the same time, Schuetz says that payment issues are in no way a stopping point for iGaming as a whole. He sees much more trouble in some resistance presented by the brick-and-mortar participants of the gaming industry.
The Future of Mobile Gambling Apps
Getting the European-style type of mobile apps rolled out in the US has turned out to be rather difficult due to the long legal processes. Every new app needs to be approved by the regulatory authorities before it can go online.
This and other reasons have resulted in a lot of illegal sites appearing that don’t care much about social security numbers or tax implications of their users.
Schuetz says it’s crucial to get these illegal sites off the market and also make the registration and legislation process easier for the honest businesses that want to join this space.
Top Marketing Methods
The oversea markets have been doing their marketing mostly through affiliates. Schuetz predicts that the role of affiliates will continue to grow for the US market as well. The only problem he sees is that affiliates need to be regulated and monitored because they basically work as the face of the industry, working closely with the end client.
Alex Igleman also chips in and confirms that US operators should pay more attention to what their peers are doing on the European market. Igleman says he doesn’t see the point of spending millions of dollars to sponsor professional sports teams, and that mimicking the techniques that have already been proven to work in the EU is a much better idea.
Mobile Gaming in the US in the Next Five Years
Igleman shares a very optimistic point of view on what is likely to happen on the US market in the next five years. He predicts that mobile usage will far outstrip desktop usage at some point.
Rachel Hirsch is not as optimistic, but she does agree that the forward thinkers are going to be tomorrow’s leaders when it comes to mobile gaming. Kind of what it is with other areas of business as well.
To get the full interviews, feel free to download this PDF.