Bodog Press Release - direct bank transfer gains support

November 12, 2002

Direct Bank Transfer gaining industry-wide support

Since the implementation of stricter credit card restrictions earlier this year many players have struggled with transferring funds to their sportsbook account. Direct Bank Transfer, Bodog's revolutionary withdrawal and deposit method, has made playing with Bodog painless and fee free. Recently The Prescription provided an in-depth look at Direct Bank Transfer.

- - From The Prescription, By Stephen Nover

Offshore bookmakers face a crucial challenge as more avenues of funding gaming accounts, such as credit cards and PayPal, fall by the wayside.

This is especially true following Tuesday's election where Republicans not only control the House, but the Senate as well. President Bush has made it clear he wants Internet wagering in the U.S. banned.

Of course, people are still going to bet sports. The emphasis now is on how to transfer money if bettors want to continue wagering offshore and across the Internet.

Calvin Ayre, Founder of Bodog Sportsbook, Casino and Poker, came to grips with this situation last year while vacationing in Asia.

"I was monitoring what we were doing and had a bit of time to reflect on where I thought our industry was going," he said. "I surmised that the days of credit cards for our industry were numbered."

This would be particularly bad for on-line casinos, since most of their transactions come from credit cards. Sports books still have Western Union, Fed Ex and wire transfers to fall back on, but these methods are costly.

Bodog, in business since 1995 with offices in Costa Rica and Vancouver, always had an alternative payment method called Direct Bank Transfer. However, few customers used it because of the popularity of credit cards.

"Credit cards are a very expensive method for transferring money, and though the cost was eaten by the house, it is obvious to anyone that knows anything about business that the consumer always ends up paying somehow," said.

"In the case of our industry, high payment costs result in higher vigorish and lower bonuses then would be possible if payment costs were lower. However, companies had to offer credit cards since the consumers were comfortable with them from a historical perspective.

"Now what is happening is that the banks have decided to withdraw from this space, forcing consumers to use other methods. International gaming companies that are good in payment space, such as ours, are able to offer superior and cheaper payment methods. They then can parlay this into savings for the consumer."

So and staff worked hard on refining Direct Bank Transfer to where it would become the dominant method of doing business in their operation.

"We completely rewrote the code and modified all our processes to make Direct Bank Transfer the simplest, fastest and most convenient payment method in our industry," said.

"From the day we rolled out the newest version in September, it has taken off. Direct Bank Transfer is now the largest payout and payment method we offer. It's more than twice as large as the second biggest, and four times larger than credit cards, which used to be our largest."

Direct Bank Transfer is similar to using an ATM machine where money from your bank account can be transferred to your Bodog account instantaneously. If you want money sent to your bank account, it takes 24 hours to process the withdrawal. The money is then directed into your account.

Customers don't have to wait for checks to arrive or go to their bank. There are no transaction fees and no third parties are involved.

Bodog is promoting this system, which they call revolutionary, by offering a 15 percent reload bonus for every deposit made using DBT. In the first 30 days of the system, 65 percent of Bodog's customer base registered for DBT.

"The biggest advantage for using it as a deposit method is that once it's set up, you can do multiple small deposits at your convenience from the comfort of your home, directly on-line and then can instantly play on sports or casino," said. "It is not only a replacement for using credit cards, but once set up is actually superior to using credit cards."

With credit cards and PayPal in the process of curtailing Internet gaming transactions, it is becoming vital that companies find alternative methods like DBT to keep players coming and feeling at ease.

"There is no question that alternative payment methods must continue to evolve if international originated-at-home gaming is to be offered and enjoyed by U.S. residents," said. "For us as an organization, this is becoming less of an issue as more of our business comes from jurisdictions all over the world.

"This is more of an issue for residents of the U.S., who want to continue to enjoy a recreational form of entertainment that is considered mainstream in the majority of the world.

"I suspect we will see many more forms of payment showing up over the next few years as the industry evolves."