Canadian Gaming Summit is a month away from taking over the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the industry is readying for the top event of the year. One group with a big presence at this year’s event will be Paysafe. In advance of the event, Paysafe General Manager of iGaming North America Greg Kirstein spoke with Canadian Gaming Business about what he is looking forward to next month and what new products and announcements Paysafe has in the pipeline for the event.

CGB: What elements of Canadian Gaming Summit work so well for your organisation, and why is it important for you to be there this year?

Greg Kirstein (GK), Paysafe: The Canadian Gaming Summit has long been the go-to event for the country’s gaming industry and the conference has become even more essential following recent developments in the sports betting space and Ontario’s launch of a market for private operators in 2022. For Paysafe, the Summit is a great place to reconnect with our existing iGaming partners and to develop new partnerships, while the sessions are of a very high calibre.

CGB: What’s your key objective at this year’s event and what are the main products/services you’ll be promoting?

GK: We’ll be showcasing the Paysafe Gateway, which allows Ontario online sportsbooks and iGaming brands to connect their cashiers to a comprehensive range of payment methods – from cards to alternative payment methods like our Skrill digital wallet and third-party solutions including Interac e-Transfer. In 2023, we launched the upgraded Skrill wallet in Canada. The solution supports instant deposits and unprecedented payout speeds, and the wallet continues to gain traction in Ontario and beyond.

Aside from our payments offering, our Income Access team will also be out in force at the Summit. Income Access’ affiliate marketing software, affiliate management solution, and broader digital marketing services are used by multiple Ontario operators – and the team will be looking to expand these business relationships at the Summit.

CGB: What would you highlight as the biggest opportunity in the betting and gaming industry over the next couple of years? 

GK: The Ontario private sports betting market has been a success, with record quarterly revenue in Q4 2023. Against this backdrop, the big question going forward is which Canadian province will be next to launch a private market, with the Albertan provincial government actively exploring expanding its gaming jurisdiction. At Paysafe, we have established partnerships with all the Canadian provincial governments’ lottery and gaming brands, so look forward to the expansion of the market province by province.

CGB: What elements of your business do you feel are best placed to take advantage of that opportunity? 

GK: Our 2024 global iGaming payments research report continued to emphasize the paramount importance of payments – from rapid deposits and payouts to payment method availability – for both player acquisition and retention in Ontario. As the Canadian market expands at a provincial level, the Paysafe Gateway will play the same essential role in operators’ growth as it has in Ontario.

Likewise, affiliate marketing, and our Income Access business in particular, has already proven invaluable for operators’ player conversion strategies in Ontario – and it will be just as vital in other regulated provinces.

CGB: What core challenges do you help solve for your customers/partners? 

GK: Given the strong correlation between payments and customer acquisition and retention, the Paysafe Gateway, which connects Ontario iGaming brands to the market’s most comprehensive range of payment methods, helps our partners convert players and keep them on board. Our research reveals that 72% of Ontario players remain loyal to gaming brands because of the payment experience – at Paysafe, we ensure that payments maximize retention and reduce churn rates for our operator partners.

CGB: What are you hoping to learn from the conference at the Canadian Gaming Summit and which elements of the agenda will you be focusing on the most? 

GK: The quality of the sessions and content at the Summit is usually exceptional, and this year looks no different. It’s always fascinating to hear insights from our peers, so the payments and affiliate/advertising sessions are definitely of interest to our team. More broadly, we’ll also be attending the growth sessions, especially around the Alberta market, plus several of the sports-betting panels, to understand how the vertical is evolving in Ontario and other provinces.