From compliance to experience: what 2025 taught the iGaming industry for 2026

Mike Peplow, COO at Paysecure, shares key lessons from 2025 and how the igaming industry can balance regulation and player experience in 2026.

2025 has once again been a year of growth for the igaming sector. But unlike previous years, it was defined less by organic expansion in mature markets and more by the opening of new jurisdictions and technological advancements. Why? Because regulation has become an ever-increasing subject for iGaming operators.

Governments around the world are struggling to regulate unregulated markets and are turning to the aspects of these markets over which can exercise some control. That’s why industries that serve iGaming operators, such as payments, are those undergoing significant shifts in both regulation and regulator interventions. The aim is to essentially manage iGaming firms via their providers. These service providers are now a critical factor in the execution of regulation as iGaming firms look to grow and expand into new markets.

With regulators increasing their compliance requirements, technology is being developed and utilised to help firms grow in line with ever-tighter regulations in developed markets and establish a blueprint for sustainable growth in developing regions. Now more than ever, operators need robust and agile infrastructure in order to be compliant, drive player conversion, and adapt to continuing regulatory and technological changes in the industry. We are seeing this no clearer than in the payments industry.

The market

The overall market size and growth rate for the core online gambling industry remain strong, even as growth matures in historically dominant regions like Europe. The total global online gambling industry, including iGaming, sports betting, poker, etc., was estimated to be valued between USD 107 billion and USD 118 billion in 2025, growing steadily at an annual rate of approximately 8% to 11% year-over-year.

The formal regulation of major economies provided the biggest boost to market expansion in 2025. For example, the official launch of Brazil's federal sports betting framework in January 2025, following the passage of Law No. 14,790/2023, is the single largest geographical growth driver. This market is expected to quickly become a top-three global market.

Growth is also being led in South America by Mexico and Colombia, and other regions like APAC are seeing growth driven by Nigeria and South Africa, driven by increasing smartphone penetration and the adoption of local, frictionless payment options.

The US has also continued its high-growth trajectory, with the total US iGaming and sports betting markets expected to reach USD 24.5 billion by the end of 2025. Key states like Michigan and New Jersey posted high year-over-year growth rates (20%+ for online casinos), indicating that the market is still far from saturation. Elsewhere, US sweepstakes and prediction market values have grown to around USD 11 billion, where traditional online gambling is prohibited, indicating huge growth opportunities in the US alone.

Globally, the majority of online activity is now mobile-centric, with roughly 80% of all online wagers worldwide starting on a smartphone. The B2B gambling software revenue alone is pegged at USD 100 billion in 2025, reflecting massive investment in the underlying technology, including platforms, KYC/AML tools, and game studios. In fact, technology solutions that connect different parts of the player journey and business needs are growing quickly. Orchestration platforms, like Paysecure, connect the player’s payment journey, payment routing, and customer checks, and much more, all in one place, making it simpler and more cost effective for the operator while providing a better experience for end users. But why is the software industry serving the gambling industry growing at such a pace? It could be due to regulation.

KYC/AML driving technology development

The requirements for Know-Your-Customer and Anti-Money Laundering checks have been the most important regulatory changes in developed markets. The most universal change is the elimination of grace periods for identity verification, directly impacting the payments process. In jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and Germany, operators are now required to fully verify a customer's age and identity before they can deposit funds or begin playing. The previous 72-hour grace period has been eliminated.

KYC procedures are becoming more sophisticated, moving beyond simple ID checks to include mandatory financial vulnerability and affordability assessments. This involves analysing a customer's income and spending patterns, which directly affects the amount they can deposit and wager. The UK Gambling Commission notably lowered the threshold for mandatory financial assessments in 2025.

There have also been more regulations affecting the payment industry that serves iGaming. New legislation, such as in Brazil, is eliminating the use of ‘borrowed’ documents or bank cards. Players must register, access games, and make payments strictly with their own documents and accounts, aiming to prevent fraud and financial risk.

In Curaçao, the transition to a new regulatory regime under the Curaçao Gaming Authority phases out old sub-licenses. Licensed operators now face much higher standards for AML, KYC, and financial reporting, bringing their payment processes into alignment with EU-based regimes.

In Europe, the EU's mandate for SEPA Instant payments (clearing funds within 10 seconds) is pushing operators to revamp their withdrawal processes to ensure near-instant payouts, turning withdrawal speed into a regulatory and competitive requirement. These changes collectively force iGaming operators and their payment service providers to invest heavily in advanced technologies for real-time transaction monitoring, biometric verification, and automated compliance to manage the higher regulatory risk and compliance burden.

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which entered into force in late 2024, is formalising the licensing and operation of Virtual Asset Service Providers. This means that platforms using cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for iGaming payments in the EU must now operate under specific licensing and heightened KYC/AML regimes, increasing compliance costs and complexity.

Technology meets experience and regulatory requirements

Technology shifted from being a supporting feature to the central driver of player engagement and retention, which is also being used to help operators comply with the new regulators and service players all over the world.

Artificial Intelligence has moved into the ‘plumbing’ of iGaming. It is widely used to personalise slot and game recommendations to individual players, automate responsible gambling checks by monitoring real-time betting behaviour for signs of harm, and enhance operational efficiency by automating fraud prevention and KYC procedures.

Within the payments journey, instant KYC, one-tap deposits, and instant withdrawal processing are becoming the standard, reducing player friction and boosting conversion and retention rates.

These technologies are being developed and introduced as sports betting drives growth in the iGaming industry, especially in North America and in emerging markets. New areas of growth include in-play betting, which now accounts for over 50% of online betting volume in mature markets, highlighting the need for real-time data, rapid odds updates, and micro-betting features, and esports betting, which this year continued its aggressive expansion, with total handle approaching high double-digit billions globally when all volumes are considered.

What’s next?

If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that regulation is not going to loosen, but tighten. Those operators looking to survive and thrive in the ultra-competitive iGaming industry will need to ensure that the infrastructure deployed to drive their player offering meets all of the regulatory requirements, regardless of where their players are and what they bet on.

In the payment journey, a poor technology implementation of ever-increasing level of regulations can easily put barriers between the player and a successful transaction. Add to this the growing complexity and fragmentation of payments, which creates an ever-evolving set of issues to be addressed. That is why many leading operators are pursuing payment orchestration solutions, a flexible, intelligent layer that sits above all individual payment partners.

Orchestration technology insulates an operator's iGaming platform from the payments ecosystem so that changes in payment regulation and payment methods occur without impacting an operator’s core platforms. This becomes particularly useful where an operator is entering new markets, new geographies or launching new brands.

From a customer perspective, Orchestration technology provides an enhance playing experience by removing the payment failure barrier by using smart routing, instantly retrying a soft-decline or legitimately looking transaction with a different acquirer. It also provides increased choice to the player by offering a wider variety of payment methods. A single API connection to the orchestration platform gives merchants access to hundreds of local payment methods, allowing players to pay by their preferred payment method.

Finally, orchestration technology removes the compliance barrier by ensuring that the correct compliance approach is used for each payment method regardless of geography.  A far from easy task if an operator is offering a wide selection of payment types across many different countries. By building into the orchestration platform the common compliance elements such as KYC/KYB, fraud monitoring, AML technologies, Network Tokens and trusted customer score, the operator can be sure that they are both meeting the payment regulations by also doing it in a way that enhances the overall player experience.

Orchestration solutions, such as those provided by Paysecure, not only help operators navigate the new world of regulation but also help them increase transaction approval rates by up to 7% and boost average deposit values by up to 35%. In short, Orchestration technology is being used to both improve player experience and to meet all the regulatory requirements placed on operators.

In summary, 2025 was a year where regulatory compliance became a core narrative in the iGaming industry, and the race for market share shifted from simple customer acquisition to retention powered by highly personalised, mobile-first, and compliant user experiences. As we move into 2026, expect wider regulatory demands globally, a further clampdown on non-compliant operators, and a greater need for technology that can meet these demands while simultaneously improving customer experience.

About author

 

Mike Peplow is the Chief Operating Officer at Paysecure, where he leads global initiatives in payment orchestration and enterprise connectivity. A veteran of the fintech and payments industry, Mike has held multiple C-suite roles, including CEO of Pozitive Payments and Paynetics UK. With a career spanning over two decades, he is recognised for scaling regulated financial institutions and pioneering digital banking platforms that prioritise accessibility, innovation, and global interoperability. 

 

About Paysecure

Paysecure serves as the premier gateway to streamlined and optimised online transactions. Its comprehensive suite of products, including payment processing, an orchestration platform, and the innovative User Trust Score, is designed to elevate business capabilities. As a global payment company, Paysecure specialises in providing a one-stop-shop solution for businesses, facilitating seamless integration with payment service providers (PSPs) and acquirers across diverse industries covering ecommerce, forex, marketplaces, and many more.