Cash is dead, long live cash: debunking cash myths in igaming

Every year, there are hundreds of stories about our inevitable transformation into being a cashless society. Below the line comments or LinkedIn posts that reflect public opinion and industry expertise are split. It’s either a wonderful demonstration of innovation and a glimpse into the new world, or a dystopian future that excludes many people from basic goods and services and strips us of our privacy rights and choice.

I think it’s fair to say the igaming industry typically sides with the former. Operators are a heavy user of eMoney services and cash is often a biased word in igaming. It’s old, which makes it boring when compared to payments buzzwords around crypto, eWallets and open banking. It’s physical, which makes it unsuited for digital services. It’s anonymous, which makes it ripe for fraud, potential money laundering, scams and as such seems difficult to control.

This is what some people believe but I think these cash myths should be reconsidered. The truth is that cash can play a valuable role in omni-channel payments, can be just as secure and transparent as digital payments and is more exciting than people give it credit.

Cash is dull

Starting with probably the strongest mark against cash, that it is old fashioned and unexciting. There’s certainly no argument that cash is old. A decade is a long time in technology and cash predates modern payment technologies by thousands of years.

However, I’m still excited by cash and its role in igaming. I think it’s important to remember that the goal of igaming payments is to create a seamless user experience, that is available to the broadest section of players possible. Many people don’t understand how technologies like crypto work, which is an instant barrier to entry. Cash, meanwhile, is the most universal form of payment in the world, making it the most practical instant payment option for many operators. With cash you reach virtually every customer, potential or actual.

Cash is insecure

When assessing the security of cash, it’s important to remember its fundamental properties, including the fact that it is not decentralised in the same way as bitcoin. Cash is issued by the government, and it is highly controlled and tightly governed. Cash is also legal and indemnified, meaning no chargebacks. Perhaps, most importantly, cash needs to be physically exchanged. It stands to reason that fraudsters do not want to pay for things in person in cash. It makes them highly uncomfortable as they risk exposing themselves. They much prefer the anonymity afforded by e-commerce.

As for transparency, once cash enters the digital world, it becomes completely traceable, like any other payment product on rails. If operators require ID checks with cash deposits, they can guarantee exactly who is making these cash payments and can select which customers are eligible. Meanwhile, source of funds and source of wealth triggers can be exactly the same for cash deposits as eWallets.

Cash is digitally incompatible

Cash is not a digital product and people don’t see cash functioning in the online world. However, people have successfully paid in cash for non-physical services for years, including utilities, pay-as-you-go mobile, and topping up Oyster cards.

In igaming, offering cash deposits in addition to other payment options means reaching a brand new segment of customers. People who prefer to pay by cash wherever possible, for privacy, security and self-control reasons. For operators that want to encourage loyal betting shop customers to try their digital services, cash deposits are a natural link between online and land-based gambling since it replicates much of the experience.

Beyond myths

It is exciting to see that innovative cash solutions in igaming are finally taking off. There now exists the technology that allows operators to achieve and maintain complete control over the cash deposit flow. When cash is electronified in seconds and becomes a secure, traceable and viable prepaid alternative – there really is no excuse for operators to look beyond myths and fully embrace cash.

Jens Bader is CEO at CashtoCode. He is a payment industry veteran with a track record including MuchBetter/MIR co-founder, ex-CCO at Secure Trading and paysafecard.