Out of all the African countries, Nigeria is definitely the one where gambling has flourished the most. There are only a handful of brick-and-mortar casinos in Nigeria. Most of the gambling industry here is dominated by offshore operators.
One of the things that ensures a smooth online gambling experience is payment methods. It’s a similar case to real money gambling in Australia or any other country for that matter. Without good payment methods, you’re not going to enjoy your time playing the different casino games.
Good payment methods guarantee a seamless transaction experience. Instead of acting like a hindrance to your immersive experience, it adds to it. This article will act as a guide to give you a better idea about the different payment methods that are supported throughout online casinos in Nigeria. Without any further ado, let’s get started.
The Evolution of Payment Methods in the Nigerian Gambling Industry
Back in the day, when gambling first got legalized, the only payment methods supported were bank transfers. The payment method was reliable, but users had to wait for days at a time, anytime they wanted to withdraw their winnings. But at least they were assured that the safety of their money was being guaranteed by the banks.
Slowly credit cards and other payment methods started to emerge. As of writing this, eWallets, prepaid cards, and mobile payments are also supported for casino transactions in Nigeria. The most popular of these are mobile payments and eWallets because of how fast and easy to use they are.
These digital payment solutions are secure and encrypted for maximum protection. The best part is that most of these don’t charge any transaction fees. And even if you do need to pay one, it’s going to be very little.
The Popular Payment Methods
You’ve briefly gotten to know about the popular payment methods used by Nigerian players but if you want to start understanding the roles that each one plays, you’ll need more details to work with. Let’s get a closer look.
1. Credit/Debit Cards
This is probably the most widely used payment method for any Nigerian online casino. It’s one of the best methods for depositing funds but players also use it for withdrawals as well. When it comes to adding balance to your casino account, the transfer time is instant.
However, the challenge with this payment system appears when withdrawing. In some cases, you might need to wait anywhere from 1 to 3 working days to get your winnings into your account. So, if you’re a player and you’re considering using this, keep this in mind.
2. Bank Transfers
As mentioned before, a bank transfer is a reliable payment system but the only catch is that it takes too long to process the payments and if you’re a gambler who prefers the transactions to be smooth then this is not the payment method for you.
However, if you’re willing to enjoy the security of this approach a little waiting time is a small price to pay for that. You’ll also need to pay for transaction fees, so if these little things are a deal breaker for you, consider trying an alternative payment method.
3. eWallets
Combining the best of both worlds is eWallets. It’s safe and fast, which every gambler wants. That’s why these are among the most popular payment methods out there. There are tons of options to choose from as well.
Depending on the operator, you might get different options. Some gambling sites will give you multiple eWallet options to choose from. In other places, you might only get one. While Nigerian operators support a lot of different companies, Skrill, Neteller, and EcoPayz are options that you can find everywhere.
When choosing any of these for making payments, make sure to go through the list of features and check for a couple of things. Be sure to check the supported currencies and transaction times. In most cases, casinos and betting sites process the transactions really fast. But you should still take a look just to be sure.
4. Mobile Money Services
Given the socio-economic condition of the Nigerian people, one of the easiest payment methods is mobile payments. While casinos don’t usually support this, you can find it on bookmaker sites. If you have no idea how this works, here’s a quick breakdown of how it works.
Instead of transferring money from a bank account or credit card, you can directly deposit money to the gambling platform using your phone’s balance. It’s a quick transfer option for when you need money urgently to place a bet and all you need to do is call the hotline and authorize the transaction.
This is particularly useful for users who don’t have a bank account yet. Customers who don’t want to open a bank account can add money to their gambling account in no time with mobile payment options. At the time of writing this, there are 17 companies licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria for mobile money services.
5. Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin
Although uncommon, cryptocurrency payments have slowly started to gain traction among the Nigerian audience. It comes with a lot of positives, such as enhanced security, anonymous payments, quick transactions, and low processing fees.
You can also choose from a number of different options to use. However, operators will usually have a list that they support for payments. So, be sure to check there first.
But you should know that the legal status of cryptocurrency in Nigeria is somewhat in the grey. While you can use it, if you get into any transactions with the Central Bank or any other financial institution, you might face problems.
But if you strictly want to use crypto for gambling, there shouldn’t be any issues at all. Just keep in mind that the price of cryptocurrencies is volatile, so you might incur some loss further down the line. While there’s no guarantee of that happening, it doesn’t hurt to stay safe.
Current Trends Shaping Payment Methods
By now you should have a good idea about the popular payment methods that are used in online casinos throughout Nigeria. However, if you want to learn more, you should start looking at the current trends that are going on in the industry right now. Here’s a list of a few of those trends.
Rise of Mobile Gambling
Thanks to high-speed mobile internet, Nigerians are shifting more towards mobile gambling than anything else. As the majority of the population doesn’t have access to a personal computer this is the most used way for online gaming in Nigeria.
There are many benefits to this as well, for instance, the games look much better on a mobile phone and the interface loads quite fast as well. Since all of the features are ported to the mobile site version or applications, players don’t have to sacrifice any features.
However, this increase in the popularity of mobile gambling also increased the use of mobile money payment methods. Not having to switch to another software to make the payments creates a seamless experience that players can enjoy.
Adoption of Nigerian-Specific Payment Platforms
One of the other trends that operators have caught up on is supporting payment methods that are local to Nigeria. This has many benefits and the first is that players no longer have to deal with the hassle of currency conversion as they can play with Nigerian Rands directly.
It also supports the local companies that are trying to bring about these revolutionary changes. Not only will it change the gambling landscape but the introduction of these payment methods can change general online payment in Nigeria for the better.
Security and Fraud Prevention
Security is always a big concern when it comes to payment methods. So, it’s only natural that Nigerian online casinos and betting sites would start following trends to safeguard online transactions.
Some of the things that you can find are 2FA authentication and anti-fraud detection measures. With 2FA, the gambling operator only authorizes the transaction after it’s approved by the users and anti-fraud detection looks for suspicious activity to safeguard a player’s account.
Challenges for Payment Methods in Nigerian Online Gambling
As payment methods are an important part of the Nigerian online gambling experience, it presents some challenges that need to be addressed. Otherwise, players can’t enjoy a smooth experience. So, what are these, and how can they be addressed? Here’s a closer look:
Complying with Regulation
As you already got to see, cryptocurrency is one of the payment methods that’s not exactly “legal” as per the regulations. Similarly, there are other payment methods that are supported by the operators in other regions except for Nigeria.
Players should be able to use all of the supported payment methods that are available to them. Payment companies should make changes to their policies in compliance with the regulation so that Nigerian players can enjoy them as well.
Currency Exchange and Conversion
You will find some operators that support players from Nigeria on their website but they require the players to play a particular currency, for example, the Euro which is one of the main challenges that the Nigerian gambling industry faces to this day.
Having to deal with different currencies can have a serious impact on the player experience. This is primarily because of the currency exchange that players have to go through, for instance, someone playing with 10,000 Nigerian Rand would only have 12 Euros to play with. It’s not a lot when you look at it after the conversion and that is why this is a serious issue that has to be dealt with.
Educating Users
Not all players have the same level of knowledge about payment methods. For the sake of transparency and a good gaming experience these gamblers need to be informed about the supported payment methods from a gambling site.
If a new user knows the kind of payment methods that the operator supports and all the details related to it, they will have a good impression of the site going into it. If they notice they don’t agree with the payment methods or the terms are too unfair, they can save themselves from a lot of unnecessary hassle.
Future Outlook: Innovations in Payment Methods
As Nigeria moves to the future, innovations are bound to happen. Many of them are taking place right now. Here’s a quick look at a few of those.
Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts
As the regulatory situation regarding gambling improves, you can expect to see the application of smart contracts for cryptocurrency payments. Those will speed up the already existing payment methods even more. As soon as a player wins a round in a game or wins a wager the smart contract will be completed and the payment can be processed instantly.
Biometric Authentication for Making Payments
Although some payment methods have already started using biometric authentication, it’s still not as widespread due to hardware restrictions. But with the latest smartphone devices including some form of a biometric sensor by default, this situation is poised for improvement.
In the coming years, you can expect to see a lot more payment methods utilizing biometric authentication for payments. It might replace 2FA completely or get combined with it for an extra layer of security.
Shaping the Future of Online Gambling Transactions in Nigeria
With all of the points covered in this article, the payment systems and their roles in Nigerian online gambling should be clear to you. It might not be on par with the rest of the world. But the discussion here should have given you a glimpse of the potential that it holds, especially in the case of mobile payments. That’s something that you’ll get to see the most in Nigeria.
If you expect to see changes in the payment sector, for now, all you can do is wait. As time passes, regulatory changes should be introduced, which will allow the entry for more payment method companies in Nigeria. Once that happens, you can expect to see online gambling operators adopting those systems in no time at all.