Building a Payments Team for an iGaming Operator
Last updated: 11 November 2026
Key takeaways
- A typical iGaming payments team has a head of payments, payment operations, a PSP relationship manager and payments risk and fraud.
- The order of hiring depends on the stage: launch needs PSP relationships first; scale needs operations and fraud.
- An iGaming payments manager should bring a PSP network, high-risk merchant experience, chargeback and fraud skills and local payment method knowledge.
- Market rules shape the job: in Great Britain, gambling with credit cards has been banned since 14 April 2020, including through e-wallets funded by credit cards.
- Payments performance shows up in retention, so the team must work closely with CRM and VIP.
An iGaming payments manager decides whether players can deposit and withdraw smoothly, and whether the operator keeps the payment providers it depends on. For a gambling business, which payment providers and banks often treat as high risk, that makes the payments team one of the first and most important hires.
This guide is for founders, COOs and heads of operations at iGaming operators. It covers the roles in a payments team, the order to hire them, what to assess and the market rules the team works within.
The roles in an iGaming payments team
Small operators often start with one person who covers the head of payments and PSP relationship roles, plus support from customer service for player queries. The split comes as markets and volumes grow.
The order of hiring depends on the stage
Launch. Without providers that accept the business, there are no payments to operate. The first hire needs a PSP network: people at payment providers, acquirers and alternative payment method companies who know them and will review the operator's application. This person also designs the first provider mix for each target market.
Scale. Once the operator has providers and volumes, the work shifts to operations and risk: approval rates, failed deposits, withdrawal times, reconciliations, chargebacks and fraud. This is when payment operations specialists and a payments risk specialist pay for themselves.
New markets. Each new market can need new local payment methods and new providers, so PSP relationship work returns with every expansion.
How to assess an iGaming payments manager
PSP network. Ask which providers the candidate has onboarded or managed, in which markets and for which payment methods. Ask what happened when a provider withdrew, changed terms or froze funds, and how they kept payments running.
High-risk merchant experience. Gambling is treated as a higher-risk business by many providers and banks. A candidate from a low-risk sector may not know how underwriting, reserves and monitoring work for high-risk merchants.
Chargebacks and fraud. Ask how they monitored chargebacks, which causes they found and what they changed. Ask how they worked with fraud and AML colleagues on payment-related cases. For the risk role in more depth, see How to Hire a Fraud and Payments Risk Manager for a Fintech.
Local payment methods. Players in different markets use different methods: cards where allowed, bank transfers, e-wallets, vouchers and local schemes. Ask the candidate which methods matter in your target markets and why.
Market rules the team must apply
Payment rules for gambling differ by market, and the payments team applies them every day. Great Britain is a clear example.
The Gambling Commission banned gambling with credit cards from 14 April 2020. The ban covers online betting, casino and bingo, among other products. Operators may accept e-wallet payments only where they are satisfied that the e-wallet provider will prevent gambling payments made by credit card, and the Commission's guidance says operators should make sure money in an e-wallet was not loaded from a credit card.
A strong candidate can explain how they applied rules like these in the markets they know: which payment methods were allowed, how they were checked, and how the checks affected the player journey. Ask how payments, AML and safer gambling teams shared information, for example on large or unusual deposits.
Payments and retention
Failed deposits and slow withdrawals drive players away. A payments team that tracks where deposits fail and how long withdrawals take gives CRM and VIP teams a reason for churn that marketing cannot fix. For those teams, see Hiring CRM and Retention Managers for iGaming and VIP Manager in iGaming: What to Look For.
Interview questions that work
- "Your main card acquirer gives you 30 days' notice. Walk me through the next 30 days."
- "Approval rates for one payment method in one market drop overnight. Where do you look first?"
- "A player complains that a withdrawal has been pending for a week. What do you check, and who do you involve?"
- "How would you choose payment methods for a new market you have not worked in before?"
- "Tell me about a chargeback pattern you found and what you changed because of it."
Strong candidates answer with steps, names of teams and providers, and the data they would check. Weak candidates answer with general principles.
Working with finance and compliance
Payments touch both finance and compliance. Finance needs clean reconciliations, predictable provider costs and visibility of funds held by providers, including any reserves. Compliance and AML need payment data to monitor deposits, check sources of funds and apply market rules on payment methods.
Ask candidates how they worked with both: who owned reconciliations, how they reported provider costs, and how they shared payment data with AML and safer gambling teams. A payments lead who sees these teams as partners rather than obstacles saves the operator time and risk.
Red flags
- No high-risk experience. Strong payments background, but only in low-risk sectors.
- A network that belongs to the employer. Provider relationships that were managed by someone else, or that depended on the employer's size.
- No numbers they can explain. Approval rates, chargeback trends or withdrawal times quoted without method or context.
- No view on market rules. Treats payment restrictions as a compliance topic only.
What we recommend
- Decide your stage: launch (PSP network first) or scale (operations and fraud first).
- Write the first job description around the providers and payment methods your target markets need.
- Test the PSP network with specific questions and references, not with a list of logos.
- Include a market rules scenario in the interview, such as e-wallet funding checks.
- Plan the next hires and when each becomes necessary as volumes grow.
The bottom line
The right iGaming payments manager brings providers who will work with you, knows high-risk payments, controls chargebacks and fraud, and applies each market's rules. Hire for the stage you are in and plan the next roles in advance. Hirexel recruits heads of payments, PSP relationship managers, payment operations and payments risk specialists for iGaming operators and providers.
Sources
- Gambling Commission, Gambling on credit cards to be banned from April 2020: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news/article/gambling-on-credit-cards-to-be-banned-from-april-2020
- Gambling Commission, Preventing credit card use: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/licensees-and-businesses/guide/preventing-credit-card-use
- Gambling Commission, Gambling using a credit card: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-and-players/guide/gambling-using-a-credit-card
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