Faster payouts. Instant payoffs. These phrases used to ring in the online casino industry, but they're now becoming a reality

31 October 2026

Bolstered by open banking and cryptocurrency, the average online casino payout time is now under an hour for some of the industry's fastest operators. Here's a look at how open banking and crypto are slashing waiting times.

Regular Settlement Times Surface

Last month, iGaming Payment Solutions published its latest report into iGaming settlements — a subject not regularly placed under the spotlight. The headline figure: instant, same-day and one-to-seven-day payment rails coexist in the online gaming ecosystem.

According to the report, 11 of iGaming's 78 payment providers now settle withdrawals instantly, with a further nine clearing requests within same-day banking hours. Of the remainder, 16 providers typically settle within one business day, 19 within two, and 22 within three. Seven providers settle within five days, five within seven and one provider settles within 9–11 days.

To understand the significance of the faster rails, note the report's finding that 67% of players expect withdrawals within 24 hours of a request. In the context of player expectations, 11 of the payment rails (14.1%) have the real-time speed needed to prevent emerging withdrawal queues.

Open Banking is Changing The Funds Flow

According to the iGaming Payment Solutions report, open banking can be three-to-five times cheaper to process than card transactions. If that's not enough to motivate a move to the open protocols, consider that iGaming.com analysis showed the UK processed more than 350 million open banking payments last year and the British regulator is already backing this technology.

From an iGaming perspective, the benefit of open banking is its speed. Rather than the traditional fund flow, open banking bypasses intermediaries and gives operators direct access to their customers' accounts.

This allows instant fund transfer and verification, rather than multiple hand-offs of data and funds. In practice, it clears the average withdrawal from e-wallet to bank account in seconds, rather than days.

Cryptocurrency Enables Instant Banking, But Few Take Advantage

iGaming Payment Solutions' report estimated the cryptocurrency segment of the online casino sector at $81 billion last year, but only 11.5% of providers use crypto payment options.

In the eyes of blockchain advocates, this hesitation is surprising, especially when crypto payments settle instantly and avoid credit card chargebacks and other fees.

According to casinoadvisor.com's payment guide, crypto and e-wallets typically process between zero and two hours after network confirmation, while debit cards are significantly slower, arriving between one and three business days.

In practice, the fastest providers can now pay via crypto, e-wallet, or bank transfer, with some operators confirmed to clear payouts in as little as six hours and none over 12. The reverse remains true, with some slower operators still taking up to two business days for the same transfer.

These extremes reflect the polarization occurring in any emerging market. The withdrawal process doesn't end once the request hits the payout system. Multiple factors including staff availability, KYC checks and financial institution processes all contribute to the final payout duration.

Still, the trend is clear. As recently as 2021, withdrawals that required 48 hours are now typically processed in under 5 hours according to industry analysis. For at least some transactions, waiting days has become waiting minutes.