Market entry in Asian iGaming is being redrawn around payments infrastructure rather than product alone, according to Japneet Singh Sethi, iGaming Advisor for Global Markets, who said operators looking at new jurisdictions must first ask whether money can move safely across the market.
Interviewed at SiGMA Asia 2026, Sethi said the starting point for expansion was not branding, content or regulation, but payments. “The first thing to look at is payments,” he said. “Is the market ready to move money? For a brand, especially in Asia, if you cannot move money in and out of the market, then it does not make sense for your product to enter.”
Payment rails become the market test
Sethi said operators weighing new markets should look at three fundamentals: payments, mobile usage and regulation. Without stable deposit and withdrawal routes, acquisition spending and localisation are unlikely to matter.
The second test is whether the product fits local connectivity and consumer economics. “I would look at mobile penetration and data costs,” he said. “If you have a product, but it cannot run on a $3 data plan, then it does not make sense for that market. You do not have a product.”
His third test is the regulatory trajectory. Sethi said he would favour markets moving towards a licensing framework over those hardening into prohibition. “I would look at markets that are moving towards regulation, even if they are still relatively grey,” he said. “If a market is already moving towards a ban, I would not put my money into it.”
India’s warning to grey-market operators
Asked about India’s 2025 online gaming law, Sethi described it as a turning point for operators that had relied on regulatory ambiguity. “It was a wake-up call for operators who thought they could keep accessing the market by operating in the grey area,” he said.
India’s law draws a line between esports, online social gaming and online money games, while prohibiting banks, financial institutions and payment systems from facilitating transactions linked to online money gaming services.
For real-money operators, that leaves little room for regulatory ambiguity. Future plans for India are likely to depend on permitted gaming categories and compliant infrastructure.
Sethi said companies serious about India should already be preparing for the next phase. “If a brand wants to enter India, it should already be working on the payment rails and
infrastructure it will need for the future,” he said.
Compliance as product design
Sethi rejected the idea that compliance and innovation sit on opposite sides of the business. “Balance is not the right way to frame it,” he said. “Compliance and innovation are not opposing forces.”
He said operators should treat compliance as part of the product. “If the user is not noticing the KYC, if he is not noticing the responsible gambling notifications, if he is not noticing how the money comes in and goes out, that is what success looks like,” he said.
According to Sethi, payments will remain the main test for operators looking at Asia. In markets where regulators are tightening rules and payment providers are under closer scrutiny, he said brands will have to prove that their products can work within local infrastructure before they can compete for customers.
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