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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.”

Latest News

Tom Horn Gaming Unwraps a Frosty Treat with Santa Yetti

Published

5 hours ago

November 27, 2025

George Miller

tom-horn-gaming-unwraps-a-frosty-treat-with-santa-yetti

Reading Time: 2 minutes

This December, Tom Horn Gaming invites players to the snowy mountain peaks in its new release, Santa Yetti, a playful holiday adventure where the jolly king of the mountains swaps his sleigh for snow boots to deliver frosty fortunes and festive fun.

Santa Yetti brings a flurry of excitement to the reels with Expanding Wilds, Multipliers, Respins, and the Respin Booster feature.

The Snowman is a Wild symbol. When it lands on any of the three reels, it expands and triggers a single respin. During the respin, seven win lines transform into twenty-seven ways to win, piling up prizes like Christmas presents. When all three reels are fully stacked with the same symbol, the total win is multiplied by ten, creating a snowstorm of rewards.

Players can also activate the Respin Booster, which increases their total bet by 1.5x and boosts the chance of triggering a respin by 300%. The feature remains active until manually switched off, giving players full control over their gameplay. For those feeling extra lucky, the Star Gamble Ladder appears after every base game win, allowing them to gamble their winnings by guessing the next star’s colour – pink or blue. Each correct guess doubles the prize and pushes the player up one level. The Golden Star can randomly appear at levels two to five to double the win instantly, no guess required.

“Santa Yeti brings together everything players love about Tom Horn games – fun, engaging mechanics, and a great story to match. It’s festive, it’s fresh, and it’s packed with features that keep the excitement rolling. We wanted to end the year on a high note, and Santa Yetti does exactly that with humour, charm, and plenty of win potential,” said Ondrej Lapides, CEO at Tom Horn Gaming.

Blending simple yet fast-paced gameplay with dynamic mechanics, Santa Yetti offers short, mobile-optimised sessions that are sure to delight both casual spinners and seasoned players. Its engaging format and rewarding features make it a perfect choice for operators looking to boost engagement during the high-traffic festive season. With its playful theme, quirky light-hearted style, and generous win potential, Santa Yetti is set to make this Christmas truly santastic.

The post Tom Horn Gaming Unwraps a Frosty Treat with Santa Yetti appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Emily Tofield Incoming Chief Executive of Ygam

Ygam appoints Emily Tofield as new Chief Executive

Published

6 hours ago

November 27, 2025

George Miller

ygam-appoints-emily-tofield-as-new-chief-executive

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Emily Tofield has been the appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Ygam, the UK’s leading charity dedicated to preventing gaming and gambling harms among children and young people. She will officially join the charity on the 6 January 2026.

Emily joins the charity following a 20-year career in leadership roles across UK government, local government, higher education and research, the media, and the not-for-profit sector. Her previous roles include posts in the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the University of Sussex, and at the City of London Corporation. With a distinguished breadth of expertise in strategic communications, she is recognised as a leading adviser across strategy, corporate affairs, reputation, marketing, policy, and fundraising.

Emily is an experienced non-executive, currently serving on the board of the Kent homelessness charity, Porchlight. She is Chair Designate of the Girls’ Learning Trust (GLT), the largest all-girls state multi-academy trust in the UK and was recently appointed to the Board of the British Dietetic Association (BDA).

Mike Wojcik, Chair of Ygam, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Emily to Ygam following a highly competitive recruitment process. Her depth of experience and proven leadership across stakeholder and political engagement, and social impact, will be instrumental as we enter our next strategic cycle. Emily joins an exceptionally strong leadership team, and this appointment marks an important new chapter for Ygam as we continue to strengthen our position as a trusted expert voice and sector leader dedicated to preventing gaming, gambling, and digital harms among young people.”

Emily Tofield, Incoming Chief Executive of Ygam, said: “Ygam has reached record numbers of young people as part of its critical mission to protect children and young people from gaming and gambling harms and to help safeguard their digital futures. As a passionate advocate for the benefits of prevention, it is a huge privilege to take on the role of Chief Executive of such a respected national education and prevention charity whose work already makes a difference to so many. High-quality, inclusive, evidence-based, preventative education around gaming and gambling harms remains as important today as when Ygam was founded, and I’m looking forward to working with the impressive Ygam team to further grow its reach, partnerships and impact in the years ahead.”

The post Ygam appoints Emily Tofield as new Chief Executive appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

bet-at-home

ZEAL and bet-at-home launch joint gaming initiative

Published

7 hours ago

November 27, 2025

George Miller

zeal-and-bet-at-home-launch-joint-gaming-initiative

Reading Time: < 1 minute

bet-at-home integrates ZEAL Instant Games titles into its German website
First selection of ZEAL slots now available
Partnership boosts reach, portfolio strength, and growth for both companies

ZEAL Instant Games, a brand of the ZEAL Group and a provider of online games, announces a new strategic partnership with online gaming operator bet-at-home. As part of the collaboration, bet-at-home seamlessly integrates the growing portfolio of ZEAL slots into its website. The first titles are already available to customers on bet-at-home.de.

Stronger together: Premium content meets established brand presence

Both partners stand to benefit from the collaboration: While bet-at-home expands its portfolio offering with ZEAL titles – enhancing its appeal and reach within the online games segment – ZEAL Instant Games gains another prominent partner whose market presence accelerates the brand’s dynamic growth and enables access to a broader user base.

In addition to best-selling ZEAL titles such as “The Bookmaker”, “Crime Scene”, “Vegas Blaze“, and other premium slots, the portfolio will continue to grow steadily in the coming months.

Shared perspectives

“Our mission is to make innovative, high-quality games accessible to the widest possible audience,” says Alex Green, Vice President Games at ZEAL. “With bet-at-home, we are gaining a partner that has held a strong position in the market for many years. This collaboration opens up new opportunities for expanding our reach and underscores the enormous potential of our growing games portfolio.”

From bet-at-home’s side: “We are delighted to have ZEAL Instant Games as a partner known for quality, creativity, and reliable performance,” says Claus Retschitzegger, CEO, bet-at-home. “The new ZEAL titles are a great addition to our offering and provide our customers with exciting and varied gaming experiences. This partnership is an important element of our growth strategy.”

The post ZEAL and bet-at-home launch joint gaming initiative appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.