PingPong launches single-API acquiring for games and digital entertainment at Gamescom, citing up to 5.3% higher payment success rates

PingPong has launched its European acquiring solution for games and digital entertainment at Gamescom, built around one API for local acquiring, alternative payment methods and sector-specific fraud controls. For publishers, the point is simple: if you are still running cross-border processing in local markets, you are leaving authorisation rates and margin on the table.

1. PingPong says the new setup combines local acquiring, more than 160 local payment methods and gaming-specific risk controls in a single integration. The company holds 82 payment licences and regulatory approvals worldwide and acquires locally in its major markets.
2. In Europe, PingPong connects directly to local Visa and Mastercard schemes rather than routing transactions offshore. That matters because issuers do not treat a domestic transaction the same way they treat a cross-border one, and in games the difference shows up fast when low-value purchases fail and are not retried.
3. The payment-method stack is built around local behaviour rather than card-only assumptions. PingPong says its network includes relationships with over 260 banks, card schemes and financial institutions, and in Europe it supports Wero, Klarna, Skrill and PayPo for wallet, instalment and account-to-account users.
4. The platform also folds in smart routing, subscription billing, renewal management, reconciliation and treasury. On paper that sounds like a convenience feature; in practice it means publishers can avoid stitching together a separate payments stack for every territory.
5. PingPong says the solution is already used by more than 70% of Asia’s 30 largest games companies. In a recent European expansion, a leading publisher using local acquiring, smart routing and PingPong’s sector-specific risk model increased overall payment success rates by 5.3% and cut total transaction costs by 25%.

For games and digital entertainment merchants, the commercial logic is not subtle: a declined £2.99 in-game purchase or failed subscription renewal is rarely just “one failed payment.” It is often the end of that transaction stream. That is why local acquiring, local payment methods and gaming-tuned fraud models are not side features here; they are the payment stack.