In the words of Teddy KGB from the movie Rounders, you need to “pay that man his money” because it’s the right thing to do (even if it’s the absolute last thing you actually want to do). The same thing can be said about online casinos paying their players. It’s critically important for online casinos to not only pay their players, but to pay them as quickly as possible without delay. This is absolutely paramount, and it can have a huge impact on the success (or failure) of an online casino.
We live in a society where people want, and in many cases they expect, to have things available to them immediately without delay. This is true for damn near everything these days and I think we can thank both the internet as well as cell phones for conditioning us to be a bit selfish in this regard. Maybe selfish isn’t always the right word because it’s not always that people expect things to be available to them, but rather they want the ability to have something available to them, even if it means paying for that ability. Some examples include paying for the ability to skip through ads while watching TV, paying for the ability to jump to the front of the line at an amusement park, and an endless array of other “conveniences” that people are happy to fork over money for. But wait, how does this relate to the iGaming world and online casinos in particular?
Generally speaking, nearly all online casinos are more or less the same in the sense that they all offer a platform of some sort where people can play their favorite casino games for real money. There are subtle differences from casino to casino to be sure, but just like Walmart and Target sell essentially the same products, virtually all online casinos have the same offerings at their core. And because of this, it’s vitally important for a casino to find ways to differentiate themselves from other casinos, which is where the speed of withdrawals comes into play.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if players are happy, the casino(s) they are playing at will stand to benefit by having a loyal, active, and profitable player base. And there’s absolutely nothing that makes players happier than receiving their withdrawals in a timely manner. This is common sense to most people and yet the industry as a whole still has a reputation for dragging its heels when it comes to expediting player withdrawals. Sure, there are a lot of variables that factor into a casino’s ability to process withdrawals quickly and many of them are extremely legitimate, but what a lot of casinos fail to realize is that when a player receives their money it makes the experience of playing online casino games real for them. In a lot of ways, this is one of the only things that makes the experience tangible for players.
The casinos that are performing well these days have come to realize that processing player withdrawals quickly has a lot of both direct and indirect benefits. We already alluded to the fact that offering fast player withdrawals is the best way to keep players happy, but the overall benefits of doing so extend far beyond that. In a way, and in several ways really, offering speedy withdrawals is one of the best marketing tools a casino has at its disposal. If a casino demonstrates its ability to consistently process withdrawals quickly, not only will they benefit by increasing longevity and retention amongst their current players, but they’ll also be able to boost their acquisition numbers based solely on the natural word-of-mouth advertising that takes place when players share about their positive experiences with being paid promptly.
So, instead of dedicating time and resources to providing players with bigger bonuses and promotions that are often accompanied by unrealistic terms and conditions, using some of those resources to improve and maintain fast player withdrawals can be a lot more beneficial. Now, it’s not nearly as flashy or even as fun as coming up with the next great promotion for your players, but in the long run it’s going to be far more lucrative. A real-world example of this outside of the iGaming industry is how the wholesaler Costco is almost universally known for their “no questions asked” return policy. This policy allows consumers to return almost any item, at almost any time, with no questions asked (and Costco will even refund the amount in cash right on the spot). By doing so, it gives consumers confidence in what they’re buying and encourages increased spending as well. The same thing happens when you apply this scenario to online casinos. In the short term, a casino may be “losing” money by processing player withdrawals quickly, but in doing so they stand to increase their profits significantly by establishing trust with their players and thus encouraging them to continue playing at their casino for years to come.
At the end of the day, there’s a finite number of ways that casinos can differentiate themselves in an effort to improve their chances of success, and offering consistently fast player withdrawals should always be at the very top of the list.