PayNearMe has announced a new partnership with Pin4 that will allow bettors to withdraw sportsbook winnings from over 18,000 ATMs across the United States beginning next year.
After processing the withdrawal through their sportsbooks, bettors will get a locator that shows ATMs they can use. Bettors will receive information to input at an ATM to make a cash withdrawal. Once bettors arrive at an ATM, they can withdraw winnings by entering their:
- Mobile phone nuhember
- Withdrawal amount
- Four-digit order number
- Four-digit pin sent with the order confirmation
PayNearMe has integrated this function into its new payment platform, MoneyLine. Sportsbooks that have adopted the MoneyLine platform could offer this new withdrawal method to bettors.
“Our cash-in at retail option is very popular with players for funding iGaming and sports betting accounts, and those same players want cash withdrawal options,” Michael Kaplan, Chief Revenue Officer and General Manager of PayNearMe, said in a statement. “By integrating Pin4 into MoneyLine, operators can now give players the option to withdraw their winnings in real-time via cash at nearby ATMs. Together, we are giving operators a fast and convenient way to enable cash payouts for their players.”
Gaming Today spoke with PayNearMe’s VP and General Manager of iGaming and Sports Betting, Leighton Webb, to understand how this fits into the larger goal of simplifying sportsbook payments.
Making Cash An Accessible Choice
While sportsbooks offer a wide variety of digital deposit and withdrawal options, PayNearMe’s new initiative gives bettors a convenient way to withdraw their winnings as cash.
“In particular with sportsbook bettors,” Webb said, “they like cash for whatever reason. Maybe they want some anonymity around it, the convenience factor of it. But there is definitely a segment that does use cash and will continue to use cash.”
For bettors who want to withdraw winnings in cash, a sportsbook operator’s inability to offer that option can be a pain point. For operators, offering cash withdrawals amounts to good customer service.
“Many players, they like to match their deposit method with their withdrawal method,” Webb said. “So as an example, if someone likes to deposit via cash, they are more likely to also want to withdraw in that method as well.”
According to Webb, PayNearMe has secured about 95% of the deposit market. That means that about 95% of deposits to sportsbook accounts are processed by the company. Withdrawals more broadly are an untapped opportunity PayNearMe is securing early.
“We are one of the first, if not the first [payment processor], to offer [cash withdrawals] to their [sportsbooks’] users,” said Webb.
Keeping Customers From Leaving
Deposits and withdrawals are critical touchpoints for sports bettors. If bettors have bad experiences making deposits and withdrawals, they may bet elsewhere or even get turned off from legal sports betting.
For example, some bank and credit card companies block direct deposits to sportsbooks. This comes from an old policy implemented to keep credit card and bank companies from funding illegal sportsbooks offshore. Many companies haven’t updated those policies for legal sports betting.
So, when customers get their deposit methods blocked and aren’t offered alternatives, they tend to choose another sportsbook or leave the regulated industry entirely.
“There was a study that was done recently that just optimizing the cashier can increase conversion by up to 35%,” Webb said.
Unsurprisingly, making it easy to deposit and withdraw funds makes customers more likely to stay. In a low-margin industry like sports betting, every customer is critical. Since cash users remain underserved at mobile sportsbooks, PayNearMe’s partnership with Pin4 could result in a boost in customers for sportsbooks.
It’ll also help sportsbooks transition from the land grab phase of aggressive marketing and generous welcome bonuses by providing a point of differentiation.
“So if you think about an industry that has extremely high — and I would even say, and some people would argue, not sustainable — customer acquisition costs, at some point, those costs have to come down,” Webb said. “An immediate [way to reduce costs] is to optimize that onboarding of the player.”
First bet offers and deposit bonuses are expensive customer-acquisition strategies. Sportsbooks can’t afford to attract customers this way forever. A convenience like an ATM withdrawal is a small part of facilitating a move away from this method of customer acquisition.
As much as PayNearMe is serving bettors, it’s offering critical long-term advantages to sportsbook operators, too.
The Future Of Sportsbook Payments
While there are many deposit options, there are few withdrawal options to match them. That asymmetry alienates bettors who want the same convenience when withdrawing money.
PayNearMe’s new ability to offer ATM withdrawals solves this problem. Now, bettors will be able to withdraw money from their sportsbook accounts with the convenience of an ATM, making them more comfortable with betting in the regulated market, and also helping operators facilitate the withdrawal process.
As PayNearMe continues its push to dominate withdrawals the way that it has deposits, bettors will see the benefits in new convenient options like ATM withdrawals.
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