BR-DGE to Power Betfred Payments as Operator Eyes Further Market Expansion

_{Betfred partners with BR-DGE to overhaul its payments infrastructure (Image: Casinos.com)}

Betfred has appointed Edinburgh-based payment orchestration firm BR-DGE to manage its deposits and withdrawals through a single integration, with the system already live across the operator's UK business. 

During this year's Cheltenham Gold Cup, which Betfred described as its most successful to date, the platform processed more than one million transactions over the four-day event.

The deal gives one of Britain's largest independent bookmakers a unified layer sitting between its customers and multiple payment service providers, handling cards, bank transfers and digital wallets. For Betfred's punters, the practical upshot is that deposits and payouts should be faster and more reliable, particularly during the high-traffic windows that surround major races and football fixtures.

Payment orchestration has become a growing priority across the UK gambling sector. Rather than relying on a single payment processor, operators are increasingly adopting independent middleware that can route transactions across multiple providers, switch automatically if one fails, and apply tailored fraud checks at each stage. 

BR-DGE, founded in 2018, has built its business around this model, connecting to more than 400 payment technologies and working with enterprise clients in travel, e-commerce and gaming.

What the Deal Covers

Under the partnership, BR-DGE acts as Betfred's orchestration layer for both pay-ins and pay-outs. The integration provides connectivity to multiple payment service providers and methods, along with layered fraud and identity checks that run in real time before and after transactions are authorised. A specialist fraud partner is integrated through BR-DGE's platform to support Betfred's internal prevention teams.

Betfred has also adopted BR-DGE Vault, a tokenisation service that captures and stores sensitive card data outside Betfred's own systems. This reduces the operator's PCI-DSS compliance burden and allows it to route tokenised transactions across different providers with built-in failover protection, meaning if one route fails, another takes over automatically.

Jacob Spencer, Chief Revenue Officer at BR-DGE, said: 'Betfred operates at real scale, particularly during major sporting events, when transaction volumes increase rapidly and payment performance is put under pressure. This partnership gives Betfred the ability to handle those spikes without slowing or restricting transactions, while providing the flexibility and confidence to support future growth and new payment requirements.'

The arrangement also gives Betfred independent control over how it routes deposit and withdrawal flows, applying custom logic to optimise for cost, speed or reliability depending on the circumstances.

Why It Matters for Betfred's Growth Plans

For a business of Betfred's size, payments infrastructure is not a back-office detail. The operator runs more than 1,300 betting shops across the UK and is one of the country's largest independent bookmakers.

That kind of scale, combined with the spiky nature of betting volumes around events like Cheltenham, the Grand National and weekend football, demands payments systems that can absorb sudden surges without failing or slowing down.

For players using online casinos and sportsbooks, a seamless deposit and withdrawal experience is increasingly the baseline expectation rather than a bonus.

Nick Cockerill, Group Chief Product Officer at Betfred, said: 'From the Grand National to a Saturday afternoon football fixture, our customers expect betting to feel easy and trusted. That includes being able to pay and get paid their winnings without delay. Working with BR-DGE helps us support that experience during our busiest periods, so payments don't get in the way of the bet.'

The partnership is currently live in the UK, with expansion into additional markets planned. The next major test for the integration will be the Grand National, where BR-DGE will manage Betfred's transaction volumes across one of the busiest betting events on the UK calendar.

BR-DGE has been on a significant growth trajectory of its own, recording tenfold growth in transaction value since mid-2024 and expanding its workforce to more than 100 employees. Its client roster spans gaming, travel and digital goods, with recent partnerships including THG Ingenuity and ticketing platform Resident Advisor. 

The Betfred deal strengthens its presence in the gambling vertical, a sector where independent orchestration is gaining ground as operators look for greater flexibility and resilience in their payment stacks.