Streamlining payment processes for a boutique gaming business
Facilitating open banking payment acceptance and automated payouts for Fitzwilliam Sports.
Overview
Fitzwilliam Sports is a boutique, high-end gaming business, committed to restoring confidence in bookmaking. Historically, the company offered fewer payment methods for bettors, and payouts took several days.
We collaborated with Fitzwilliam Sports to improve settlement times, reduce payment acceptance costs through account-to-account payments, manage fraud, and automate payment and account reconciliation.
The Challenge
Within the gaming sector, there are two main payment challenges: getting paid and paying out. Speed, certainty, and cost are paramount to a successful platform. Once a lodgement is made, gamers expect to instantly access funds to place bets. As a gaming company, it is essential to have complete certainty of funds to release the service and enable bets. Without this, capital can be put at risk. On the reverse side, with winning bets, customers expect the same speed for withdrawals. Given the typically high average transaction value (ATV), transaction fees can significantly impact gaming providers’ profit margins.
The solution
Fire have worked directly with Fitzwilliam Sports to enable their boutique platform to accept open banking payments from high net-worth individuals. Using the Fire Payments API to receive webhook notifications on payment statuses, Fitzwilliam Sports can have confidence to release funds. Beyond this, the iGaming business also leverages Fire to enable customer withdrawals and vendor payouts.
The Results
- High value lodgements at a low costFitzwilliam Sports leverages Fire's account-to-account payments to significantly reduce costs compared to traditional bank transfers or card payments, making high-value transactions more affordable.
- Enhanced payment data to aid reconciliationFitzwilliam Sports leverages Open banking payments help to automatically link transactions to the correct accounts, simplifying the reconciliation process and eliminating manual processes and errors.
- Automated payouts for withdrawalsBy automating payouts, Fitzwilliam Sports reduced manual work, minimised human errors, and optimised time and resource allocation, ensuring swift and accurate payouts for customers and vendors.
- Less prone to fraudOpen banking is a secure payment method. Fitzwilliam Sports avoids the responsibility of securely storing sensitive customer card data, while customers authenticate themselves through their own secure banking platforms.
"Our staff and customers have grown to trust Fire. The app is user-friendly, and I recommend it to new customers. The customer service is excellent—we can always reach Fire by email or call our account manager for immediate assistance."
Richard Duggan, CFO at Fitzwilliam Sports
Q&A with Fitzwilliam Sports
- Why did you choose Fire over other providers?
Fire was recommended to Fitzwilliam by a payment specialist and we continue to owe them a big thanks!
- How was your experience opening an account with Fire?
Fitzwilliam Sports opened accounts with Fire in December 2021. As most people know for any start-up it is difficult to open a bank account. We submitted information on-line to Fire who reverted very quickly to confirm they would open an account in our name. The process was clear, decisive, smooth and fast.
- How did you find the integration process to Fire’s API?
With a little bit of support, it was quick and easy! With Fire, we quickly set up customers to transfer and receive funds. The fire API’s were quickly integrated to our systems and with minimal development we were able to automate and thereby eliminate a lot of manual processes and errors.
- What do you think of Fire's fees and customer service?
The charges with Fire are reasonable and we have a Fire account manager we can call or email. Fire have been with us during a period of significant growth, and we look forward to banking with them for the foreseeable future.
- How has Fire helped you to better serve your customers?
Fire help with making faster payouts, with less errors receiving and reconciling funds sooner.
Contact us and start streamlining your payments today.