In Latin America’s rapidly evolving iGaming market, payment experience is becoming a decisive competitive factor. In this interview with SBC Noticias, Andre Boesing, our General Manager Southern LatAm, discusses the findings of our latest research on the “Consumer Payment Experience Gap” and explains why instant payments, localized methods, and real-time infrastructure are reshaping how operators compete for player trust and retention.
- The Okto Payments report introduces the concept of the “Consumer Payment Experience Gap.” How would you define this gap in simple terms, and why is it particularly serious in Latin America?
In simple terms, the gap is the distance between what operators believe they are delivering and what users actually experience.
Operators measure stability, uptime, and regulatory compliance. Consumers measure speed, simplicity, and immediacy. When those perceptions do not align, invisible friction emerges, and that friction results in abandonment and lost revenue.
In Latin America, this gap is particularly significant because digital behavior is already shaped by instant payment infrastructure. In markets such as Brazil, with Pix, or Argentina, with instant A2A transfers, immediacy has become the standard. Our findings show that when a platform fails to match that rhythm, the disconnect becomes structural.
- According to your data, 96.3 percent of operators say they are satisfied with their payment providers, yet 45.4 percent of consumers report abandoning deposits. How do you explain this disconnect?
This gap reflects the use of very different metrics. The 96.3% of operators who report satisfaction are mainly evaluating operational performance. Consumers, on the other hand, are judging the experience in real time. Our data shows that 45.4% of users abandoned between 5% and 20% of their deposits in the past year because the process felt slow or overly complex.
Operators tend to optimize internal processes, while users react to the immediacy of the interaction. In impulse-driven environments such as iGaming, tolerance for delays is extremely low. If a deposit is not credited within seconds, the moment often passes because the odds a player was targeting may no longer be available.
From a technical perspective, the system may still be functioning as expected. The challenge is that operational efficiency does not always translate into a frictionless experience for the user. When that gap appears, it affects acquisition, retention, and ultimately lifetime value.
- In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception operators still have about payments in Latin America?
A common misconception is treating payments as back-office infrastructure.
Many operators still believe that a strong product — better odds or promotions — will compensate for friction at checkout. In practice, the payment stage often determines whether the user completes the transaction. Our data shows that nearly one in five users will abandon the process immediately if their preferred payment method is unavailable.
In Latin America, localization and variety are essential. Payment ecosystems are fragmented, and each market has its own dominant methods and user expectations. Operators that rely on standardized global setups often lose conversion without realising it, because the friction is hidden within aggregate metrics.
- With 87.9 percent of users abandoning transactions that take longer than one minute, and nearly half of Brazilian users expecting results in under 30 seconds, how should platforms rethink their payment architecture?
Architecture must be designed around impulse behavior, not legacy processing cycles.
If 87.9% of users abandon a process that exceeds one minute, and almost half of Brazilian consumers expect confirmation within 30 seconds, the speed of crediting becomes a central factor in the experience.
This requires closer integration with local instant payment rails, faster identity verification flows, and liquidity structures that allow funds to be credited immediately after approval.
Platforms also need the capacity to maintain that speed during peak demand. The platforms that perform best in these scenarios are those that design their infrastructure around real-time behavior rather than traditional processing cycles.
- Nearly half of consumers say platforms show little or no personalization in payment options. Why are operators underutilizing payment personalization?
Historically, personalization has focused on the product layer — bonuses, content, odds — rather than the payment layer.
However, our data indicates that 48.5 percent of consumers consider payment methods a decisive factor when choosing a platform, and nearly half say the available options do not reflect their preferences or generational habits.
Two structural challenges help explain this gap. The first is technological fragmentation, which makes it difficult to integrate and manage multiple local payment methods. The second is the limited use of transactional data to guide payment choices.
Delivering meaningful personalization requires a unified view of the user and the ability to recommend payment options dynamically, based on behavior, location, previous transactions or even time of day. Many operators are still in the early stages of implementing this capability.
- Your research suggests payout speed is the main driver of loyalty. Why have payments historically been treated as operational events rather than brand moments?
For years, payments were invisible when they worked properly. They were managed through service-level agreements and internal KPIs, without much visibility at the brand level.
But in real-time digital economies — especially in iGaming — the withdrawal moment is emotional. It is the point at which users assess whether the platform delivers on the promise made during the experience.
The perception gap in our research illustrates this clearly. While 42.7% of consumers define an acceptable payout time as under 30 seconds, 92.5% of operators believe users are willing to wait more than four hours.
When expectations diverge at that level, the payout experience becomes one of the most powerful drivers of trust or distrust in the entire user journey.
- Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, what structural weaknesses could be exposed if operators fail to adapt? With more users engaging only during major global events, how can payment experience convert seasonal users into long-term customers?
The World Cup amplifies everything: traffic, impulse betting, casual users, and regulatory pressure.
More than 55% of operators acknowledge that over one-third of their total transaction volume occurs within the first five minutes of a “peak moment.” If infrastructure does not scale in real time, delays, failed credits, and KYC bottlenecks will surface immediately.
At the same time, these events bring in users who may only engage during major tournaments. Their first experience will be decisive. If onboarding is complex or payments are slow, the likelihood of returning after the event drops significantly.
The opportunity lies in transforming that first deposit into a seamless and trustworthy experience. If the chain — Impulse → Speed → Trust — holds, the event can convert seasonal users into recurring customers.
- Do you believe payment performance during the World Cup could permanently redefine brand perception?
Absolutely. In impulse-driven environments, a single failure can be enough to lose a user. Only 48 percent will attempt again after a poor payment experience, and more than one-third would leave the platform entirely after a single incident.
During an event of the World Cup’s magnitude, payment performance will not be perceived as a technical detail but as a central component of the value proposition. The brand that delivers speed, immediate availability, and trust at the critical moment will be associated with a positive experience.
In 2026, competition will not be defined solely by odds or creative markets. Operators that really “Play Differently” by delivering a seamless experience at critical moments will build stronger trust and brand recognition. In a competitive market, that reliability becomes a powerful differentiator.
