Will PayPal become a key player in Canada’s igaming scene in 2025?

PayPal could become a key player in Canada’s iGaming scene in 2025

PAYPAL IS ABSOLUTELY huge. 36 million merchants use PayPal in more than 165 worldwide countries. That’s a CAGR growth of 10.76% over the previous 5 years. They managed to generate $29.2 billion in revenue in 2023, which was a 7.9% increase year-on-year. And despite seeing a decline in users in the last quarter of 2023, they still finished the year with 426 million users. It’ll be interesting to see what figures they generate at the close of 2024.

One of the areas PayPal could thrive in is iGaming, especially in Canada. When players compare Canadian casino sites before signing up, they typically look for a few standout qualities: game selection, bonus offers, and, importantly for us, payment methods. While leading candidates like simple bank transfers are notable, Skrill and Neteller frequently appear as popular digital wallet options. PayPal is up there in other key iGaming jurisdictions but remains to do so in Canada. Why?

Below, we’ll look at how PayPal could become a key player in Canada’s iGaming scene in 2025.

Why is PayPal so Popular?

We will admit that PayPal isn’t as popular as it was. Anyone will say they’re more inclined to use Apple or Google Pay – 507 and 150 million global users respectively.

 Still, PayPal is massively popular – they processed the $29.2 billion worth of transactions in 2023, as we mentioned. Most PayPal customers are loyal to their products thanks to ease of use and security.

Nothing is more annoying than typing in your card number every time you want to buy something. All that is needed is an email address and its password. The absence of risk selling is another reason, as this ensures that all problems are settled quickly and don’t take too long.

From a business perspective, it has trust. Displaying the PayPal logo on a checkout window tells people the vendor is secure to do business with.

How Does PayPal Operate?

PayPal is a wallet and a payment system.

Its primary function is to ease transactions, operating as a go-to between customers and merchants. Users can link their bank accounts and credit cards or have a cash balance on PayPal accounts. Once linked, payments are made instantly, and further payments can be withdrawn back to bank accounts or made directly to other purchases.

From the business side, PayPal has strong invoicing, subscriptions, and analytics tools. It works with popular eCommerce websites so operations are easy for small and big businesses.

PayPal’s area of international business is aggressive. It does not have to bother with currency conversion as it automatically converts currency for transactions, enabling people to do cross-border transactions with ease.

Why It’s So Suitable for iGaming

iGaming operates in a rapid and secure environment with its easy-to-use payment methods, which PayPal stands for.

Players need to place money quickly, play their favorite games, and withdraw their winnings as fast as possible: PayPal does that. That is what can be achieved through the service of depositing and withdrawing money directly through PayPal.

Also, there is more—privacy. Most players do not wish for their gambling transactions to show on their banks, so they prefer to use PayPal.

Safety is also essential in iGaming. Players and operators feel safer with PayPal and its strong fraud protection methods like two-factor authorization, encryptions, and protection from fraudsters. This makes sense, especially in an industry with big money and private information involved in most transactions.

And, once players see PayPal as one of their payment options, they feel the specific platform is legitimate and authentic.

Is PayPal Absent in Canada’s iGaming Market?

Still, we can say all we want about PayPal, but if you Google it, there’s a notable absence of casinos in Canada – PayPal is conspicuously non-existent in the Canadian iGaming market.

The main reason comes from the decentralized nature of regulation. In policy-uniform countries, gambling is not allowed, but in the case of Canada, gambling is allowed at a state level. Ontario, for example, has laid out proper guidelines for internet or online gambling, while others are still catching up.

It is within PayPal’s policy to promote gaming transactions only for nations with clearly defined and sound regulatory measures to ensure users and merchants are compliant and safe. However, this is relative to the restrictions imposed in Canada, which don’t comply with PayPal’s requirements. Such a policy leaves a market gap. Still, everything could change in 2025.

There are Interac, Neteller, and Skrill that people can use to play casino games online in Canada. They might not be as popular, but they are easy to use and widely accepted. Still, it’s to see how users who have used PayPal in other segments of the economy would find its absence in the iGaming market a headache. Nobody likes setting up new accounts.

For PayPal to be positioned well within the Canadian iGaming context, certain conditions must be satisfied. These changes would allow for a smooth transition towards PayPal’s full-fledged entry into the Canadian market.

PayPal’s attributes suit the Canadian iGaming industry. It’s a shame they can’t expand into the market probably as much as they would like to. Success in this case depends on the ability to move through legal regulations. There’s a future trust for PayPal as it goes along with Canada’s development in comprehensive gambling regulations to be a part maker in the iGaming payment sector.