PayNearMe’s partnered sportsbooks will soon have access to PayPal and Venmo integrations into their products, meaning sports bettors will be able to use Venmo for deposits and withdrawals. Some of the sportsbooks that will have the capability to offer Venmo beginning in Q2 of 2022 include FanDuel, Caesars Sportsbook, and BetMGM.
However, the operators cannot comment on whether they will decide to offer Venmo as a deposit and withdrawal method. So, bettors may get Venmo at their sportsbooks in Q2 of 2022 or much later depending on each sportsbook’s timeline.
PayPal has been a common deposit and withdrawal method in the sports betting industry. Venmo adds another digital wallet for sports bettors to use.
Why PayPal Is A Popular Sportsbook Deposit And Withdrawal Method
PayPal is already a popular service with over 400 million active accounts. It’s a payment method consumers in general are comfortable with.
Leighton Webb, Vice President of iGaming and Sports Betting of PayNearMe, a company that operates and processes payments for licensed sportsbooks, offered thoughts on why PayPal is the preferred transaction platform for many sportsbook customers.
“There are still players out there that might be uncomfortable linking to their bank account,” Webb said in a phone interview with Gaming Today. “And then secondly, if you think about it from a player perspective, there’s a certain anonymity to the PayPal account, meaning it’s separate from their main bank account.”
Sportsbooks and PayPal don’t offer true anonymity. But the separation of funds PayPal provides for sports bettors remains important for some bettors. Keeping gambling money from a shared bank account can prevent disagreements at home. Separate sports betting funds also simplify bankroll management by isolating sports betting deposits and withdrawals.
Above all, PayPal is convenient.
“When I’m in an app and I want to pay, make a wager, make a deposit with PayPal, it’s literally a couple of clicks: authenticate me into PayPal, authorize that transaction, and then I’m elegantly dropped back into the operator cashier flow and those funds are available for me to wager,” Webb said.
Venmo shares many of PayPal’s strengths, and the sportsbooks that have partnered with PayNearMe to handle deposits and withdrawals will be able to expand the benefits offered by PayPal to users who prefer Venmo.
What Could Come Next After Venmo
If most of a book’s sports bettors use PayPal, then Venmo will likely follow as a leading deposit and withdrawal method when it becomes available. Even books that process only a fifth of their deposits and withdrawals through PayPal could see greater user retention by offering seamless Venmo transactions.
Expanding digital payments for sportsbooks could increase customer loyalty among younger bettors who appreciate the convenience of digital wallets. Future expansions could include Amazon Pay and cash apps.
A radical future expansion would include crypto wallets for legal sportsbooks. But cryptocurrencies would have to hold stable values before they become practical transaction methods for licensed sportsbooks. Bettors shouldn’t expect anything like that in 2022 or even 2023.
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