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TrueLayer launches PayDirect, a new approach to seamless online payments in iGaming

Published

5 years ago

January 26, 2021

George Miller

Reading Time: 3 minutes

PayDirect, a new service from the UK’s open banking leader, TrueLayer, combines one-click verification with instant deposits and withdrawals to deliver the most complete payments experience.

It delivers a higher-converting, lower-fraud payments approach when compared to card and bank transfer.

TrueLayer, the leading technology company building financial infrastructure that’s open to everyone today announced the launch of PayDirect, a new open banking-based payments method enabling iGaming firms to create a higher-converting, lower-fraud payments approach when compared to card and bank transfer. TrueLayer is working with a number of iGaming operators who are embracing opening banking as a more secure, cost-effective way to deliver superior player experiences.

Today, identity and verification flows and card-based payments typically generate avoidable friction along the customer journey, affecting adoption and retention rates and generating unnecessary costs. The introduction of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) this year adds another layer of friction to cards with workarounds that deliver a poorer customer experience.

PayDirect is the answer to those issues, enabling firms to stay compliant while delivering a frictionless customer experience. Built on open banking and the fastest available bank payment rails, it provides firms with instant payments and withdrawals, while accelerating KYC and AML processes, to deliver the most complete solution on the market.

“As players experience seamless digital services in other aspects of their lives, their expectations for iGaming are also changing. PayDirect builds on our payments expertise to solve some significant issues around onboarding, deposits and withdrawals to help operators deliver an experience that is fit for the digital age,” commented Ossama Soliman, Chief Product Officer at TrueLayer. “The ability to quickly and easily verify a customer’s identity, and move money instantly in and out of an account using bank to bank payments, while automatically complying with AML regulations, is hugely beneficial to both the player and the operator.”

With PayDirect iGaming operators, can deliver new levels of services to their customers, all from within their app, in a matter of minutes, through:

Account verification – Instantly verify account ownership based on what’s on file at a customer’s bank.
Instant account funding – users can initiate payments or move money between accounts effortlessly using open banking.
Seamless online payments – that reduce fraud and chargebacks at any checkout.
Instant withdrawals – users can initiate payouts, using the same method used for deposits, automatically meet AML requirements, while avoiding manual data entry like bank account number or IBAN.
Instant refunds – providing customers to access their money faster, compared with up to 5 days using cards.

PayDirect improves the player experience and delivers a number of significant benefits to iGaming operators, including:

Up to 3x faster onboarding: PayDirect gets players up and running in a matter of minutes, using open banking and biometric authentication that removes the need for users to remember usernames or passwords.
Higher payment conversion rates: Once a player has successfully executed a deposit, payment failures tend to be four times lower with PayDirect than cards (on average cards fail up to 15% of the time vs 3.5% with PayDirect). This means more efficient deposits and, more importantly, less time managing failed payments that can ultimately lead to customer churn.
Increased customer loyalty: Card deposits take up to 3 days to settle, whilst withdrawals can take up to 5 days. PayDirect increases retention by offering customers what they want, instant deposits and withdrawals. Recent research into the iGaming market by YouGov for TrueLayer (Q4 2020) found rapid deposits and payouts consistently topped the list of player priorities, with 8 out of 10 players rating fast payments as important – and they choose their operators accordingly.
Lower operating costs: PayDirect saves time and reduces cost by automating otherwise manual processes such as payment reconciliation or KYC checks. PayDirect also reduces costs when processing refunds, as they are automatically issued to the same bank account that was used to make the deposit. This reduces opportunities for human error compared to cheque or manual bank transfers as well as cutting down customer support cases on lost or never issued refunds.

Reduced risk and fraud: With PayDirect account ownership and authentication is handled by the player’s bank. No more chargebacks, no credential sharing or password storage. Service providers can also meet AML requirements by paying out via the same method used for deposits.
A fully white labelled payment method: integrated open banking capabilities, increase customer trust by the brand owning the end-to-end customer journey, and configuring payment flows.

“The race is on to reimagine the way people pay by leveraging Open Payments architectures. We have seen in banking and ecommerce that great onboarding and payments experiences increase conversion, trust, and retention. But many payment journeys today have not been designed for a digital first world,” added Francesco Simoneschi, co-founder and CEO at TrueLayer. “With PayDirect we’re calling time on cards and their monopoly. We have used our experience and expertise as a leading open banking platform to design a digital and mobile first payment product that combines instant bank payments with instant payouts, refunds and reconciliation capabilities. PayDirect delivers an effortless way to onboard new customers and enable them to quickly initiate payments and withdraw funds. It is the easiest way to create a better, safer and lower cost payments process.”

Compliance Updates

MGA Representative Appointed Co-Chair of GREF InfoStat Working Group

Published

14 minutes ago

May 26, 2026

Wladimir P.

mga-representative-appointed-co-chair-of-gref-infostat-working-group

Erika Spiteri Bailey, the Senior Executive of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics at the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), has been officially appointed as the Co-Chair of the InfoStat Working Group within the Gambling Regulators European Forum (GREF).

Erika Spiteri Bailey will serve in this role alongside Anssi Airas, representing the National Police Board of Finland.

GREF is a forum for European gaming regulators, facilitating the exchange of views and the development of approaches to common regulatory challenges. Within this framework, the InfoStat Working Group provides a platform for regulators to collaborate and exchange insights on the use of data in support of effective policy development and decision‑making across jurisdictions.

In her role as Co-Chair, Erika Spiteri Bailey will contribute to shaping the group’s work programme and fostering cooperation among members, with a focus on strengthening data‑driven regulatory approaches.

The post MGA Representative Appointed Co-Chair of GREF InfoStat Working Group appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Chris Thornton

GamCare Appoints Chris Thornton as its New Director of Operations

Published

14 minutes ago

May 26, 2026

Wladimir P.

gamcare-appoints-chris-thornton-as-its-new-director-of-operations

GamCare has announced the appointment of Chris Thornton as its new Director of Operations, with overall responsibility for the delivery and performance of GamCare’s national and regional services, including the National Gambling Helpline. Chris joins the Executive Leadership Team at a pivotal time for the gambling support sector.

Chris brings extensive senior leadership experience spanning the NHS, voluntary sector and health commissioning. He joins GamCare from the British Red Cross, where as Director for the North of England and Isle of Man he led multi-disciplinary health and care operations, managing around 100 staff and £3m in annual income from NHS and local authority commissioned services, delivering measurable reductions in emergency department attendance, hospital readmissions and reliance on formal social care.

Chris has built and led services at scale throughout his career. At Primary Care Sheffield he led city-wide clinical services and co-led successful bids worth £22m. At St John Ambulance he created the East Midlands region and grew its charitable output by 365% while reducing costs by 61%. He is a Chartered Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and served for eight years on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee.

Chris Thornton, incoming Director of Operations at GamCare, said: “I’m thrilled to join GamCare at such an important moment for the organisation and for everyone working to reduce gambling harms across the UK. GamCare operates at national scale, running the UK’s only round-the-clock specialist support service for gambling harms, combining the National Gambling Helpline, live chat, online communities and self-guided tools with thousands of structured treatment sessions and prevention and education programmes reaching tens of thousands of people each year.

“That combination of specialist expertise, integrated delivery and frontline impact is rare in any sector, and is shaping how effective support for gambling harms is understood and delivered. I’m looking forward to building on those foundations and to playing my part in ensuring GamCare’s services continue to meet growing demand as the sector evolves.”

Victoria Corbishley, CEO of GamCare, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Chris to GamCare and to the Executive Leadership Team. He brings exactly the combination of strategic and operational leadership that reflects how we work, significant experience of leading complex health and community services at scale, a strong track record of evidencing impact, and a deep commitment to reaching people who are often underserved. I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to deliver and develop our national services.”

The post GamCare Appoints Chris Thornton as its New Director of Operations appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Christer Fahlstedt

Paf Passes Half a Billion Euros for the Benefit of Society

Published

14 minutes ago

May 26, 2026

Wladimir P.

paf-passes-half-a-billion-euros-for-the-benefit-of-society

Paf increased both its revenue and profit during 2025. At the same time, the company has passed a historic milestone – more than half a billion euros has now been distributed for the benefit of society since its foundation in 1966.

The Paf Group’s revenue increased to 214.5 million euro in 2025, compared to 191.7 million euro the previous year, an increase of 12%. The Group’s profit also increased, from 54.3 million to 57.2 million euro.

“The profit improved by five percent, which means that Paf delivered the strongest result in the company’s history. Our figures are positive across all our markets and our physical operations increased revenue by three percent,” said Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Paf.

During the past year, the number of active customers also increased by 12%, contributing to the positive development.

The annual distribution of Paf funds amounts to 55.5 million euro. This major distribution means that Paf passes half a billion euros in distributed Paf funds. Since Paf was founded in 1966, a total of 527.9 million euro has been distributed for the benefit of society.

“Contributing more than 500 million euro to building a stronger society in Åland is a new milestone in Paf’s 60-year history. Paf has made a remarkable journey from offering local gaming experiences in Åland in the 1960s to introducing gaming onboard ferries during the latter part of the 20th century. With the development of digital gaming since the early 2000s, Paf is today an established operator in several markets across Europe,” said Jan-Mikael von Schantz, Chairman of the Board at Paf.

“It is the result of long-term and successful work carried out with great expertise by Paf’s management and employees,” he added.

Paf funds are used for various projects and organisations that benefit society, including social activities, culture, youth work, sports, environmental initiatives and more.

“We do not take the measures we introduce lightly, it requires a great deal from all of us at Paf when we implement responsible gaming measures that other operators in the industry do not have. At the same time, we are proud to stand by what we believe is the right and responsible way forward,” said Christer Fahlstedt.

In 2025, Paf chose to lower the loss limit to 16,000 euro for all customers and to 6000 euro for young people aged 20–24. This year in February 2026, the general mandatory loss limit was further reduced to 15,000 euro. The latest reduction means that Paf has now halved the original loss limit that was first introduced in 2018.

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