Alternative payment methods
New Payment Methods in Switzerland and Thailand
November 14, 2023
The global gaming market is hotter than ever, reaching nearly every country from the Middle East to Southeast Asia and throughout the heart of Europe. Each country has unique needs and preferences related to infrastructure, laws, regulations, and payment methods. Developers have an unbridled opportunity to grow their games in blossoming regions by taking advantage of local payment options that help them reach new audiences and multiply revenue.
Xsolla Pay Station, the gaming industry's customizable, multi-platform checkout product, recently launched new payment methods for bank transfers in Switzerland and Thailand. Developers and publishers can now expand payment flexibility to their players across both regions.
Xsolla continually seeks to create innovative solutions that help mobile, PC, web, and cloud game developers grow their audience and meet the evolving needs of players around the globe. Our expansion of local payment options enhances the customer experience at checkout by offering additional ways to pay for games and gaming content in a streamlined, familiar, and trusted manner.
source: Statista
With strong support from the Swiss Game Developers Association (SGDA,) more than 60 resident game design and development studios continue to improve and grow the country’s gaming sector. Switzerland’s player population is eager for more titles from home and abroad and is most easily reached when you integrate local payment methods into your global business strategy.
source: Statista
It’s hard to attract Thai gamers and cover all your bases, legally and otherwise. Not only is it essential to offer all the different local payment types and get the taxation right, but you must also make it all compliant.
While cash is still widely used in Thailand, the kingdom continues to expand its digital payment options. Bank transfer is the most preferred online payment method in Thailand. Around 78% of the Thai population uses bank account funds transfer as a quick and common way to pay for everything, from groceries to online game credits. Xsolla Payments makes offering three of Thailand’s most popular digital payment options simple to include in your global ecommerce strategy.
Create your Xsolla Publisher account to start exploring Xsolla’s range of monetization tools today. If you want to learn how Xsolla can help reduce your workload and provide a simple solution that allows you to monetize your game across multiple platforms, book a meeting with our team.
THE GAMING MARKET IN SWITZERLAND
While game developers are more likely to think of the United States or Japan when launching a game or expanding their reach, the Swiss game scene is now a full-fledged industry growing rapidly from a startup position to a respected gaming region. Some of the world’s leading video game industry events occur in Switzerland, including the Numerik Games Festival. Statistica’s latest report on Switzerland projects the gaming market to reach US$1,593m in 2023 with a CAGR of 9.31% by 2027, approximately 3.6m players to embrace the country’s hot mobile and cloud games markets by 2027 and a user penetration of 3.94%. source: Statista
With strong support from the Swiss Game Developers Association (SGDA,) more than 60 resident game design and development studios continue to improve and grow the country’s gaming sector. Switzerland’s player population is eager for more titles from home and abroad and is most easily reached when you integrate local payment methods into your global business strategy.
A CLOSER LOOK AT GAMING IN THAILAND
The Southeast Asia (SEA) video game market is large and continuously evolving. In 2022, it generated more than $6.3 billion, with a projected revenue growth of 12.5% in 2023. In 2022, mobile video games generated $3.89 billion, with a projected revenue growth of 12.1% for 2023, making SEA the fastest-growing mobile game market in the world. According to Newzoo’s 2019 article, "Games Market Trends and Publishers to Watch in Southeast Asia: The World’s Fastest-Growing Mobile Games Market", this growth in mobile games is tied to the region’s increasing number of smartphone users. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines represent most of the SEA video game market. Thailand not only stands as the leading country in the world for daily time spent playing video games, with tech-savvy gamers dedicating an average of 1:56 hours per day to gaming, but it also ranks as the third-largest video game market within Southeast Asia. According to Statistica, Thailand’s video game market will be a $2.4 billion market by 2027. source: Statista
It’s hard to attract Thai gamers and cover all your bases, legally and otherwise. Not only is it essential to offer all the different local payment types and get the taxation right, but you must also make it all compliant.
Xsolla Payments
As a global entity, Xsolla has the resources and the partnerships needed for game developers to branch out into new areas worldwide. In addition to payment methods currently accepted throughout Europe and SEA, Xsolla now supports even more local options specific to two key markets’ current digital economy: Switzerland and Thailand. Accepting these payment methods will help boost your audience reach and overall game revenue. According to Statistica, consumers in Switzerland paid for approximately half of their online purchases via bank transfer. Cards and digital wallets followed, used for 30 percent and 17 percent of online purchases, respectively. Partners can now offer TWINT bank transfer payments to players in that country - confident in TWINT’s security because all the Swiss banks that work with TWINT guarantee comprehensive protection.
While cash is still widely used in Thailand, the kingdom continues to expand its digital payment options. Bank transfer is the most preferred online payment method in Thailand. Around 78% of the Thai population uses bank account funds transfer as a quick and common way to pay for everything, from groceries to online game credits. Xsolla Payments makes offering three of Thailand’s most popular digital payment options simple to include in your global ecommerce strategy.
- Launched in 2016 by the country’s major telecom company, KBank (Kasikornbank) is now one of the top banks in Southeast Asia and often the main payment choice for foreigners living in Thailand.
- Krungsri KMA Bank makes mobile game payments simple for thousands of players in Thailand who prefer that method.
- Introduced by the Bank of Thailand in 2017, PromptPay uses a citizen identification number or mobile telephone number to connect users to their bank account when they want to pay. PromptPay has significantly driven Thailand’s digital transformation and accelerated the adoption of digital payments kingdom-wide.
Create your Xsolla Publisher account to start exploring Xsolla’s range of monetization tools today. If you want to learn how Xsolla can help reduce your workload and provide a simple solution that allows you to monetize your game across multiple platforms, book a meeting with our team.
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