Trust indicator
Secure Payments
Payments are handled by a recognised, regulated provider — a card gateway such as Stripe or PayPal, or a regulated open banking provider.
What it is
Entry payments go through a recognised, regulated provider rather than an unknown or home-grown checkout. That means a PCI-compliant card and wallet gateway such as Stripe or PayPal, or a regulated open banking provider where the entrant approves a Pay by Bank payment inside their own banking app.
Why we track it
Handing payment details to a competition site is the point of highest risk for an entrant. A recognised provider means those details are handled to industry security standards, and with open banking there are no card details to hand over at all — the bank authenticates the payment directly. Either way the entrant is not trusting a bespoke checkout with their money.
How to earn it
- Take payment through a well-known, regulated provider — a PCI-compliant card gateway or a regulated open banking provider.
- Show the provider clearly at checkout so entrants recognise it.
- Serve the whole site over HTTPS.
This is one of several weighted indicators behind a site's letter grade (A+ to F). We don't publish the exact points or thresholds, but earning more indicators — and avoiding hostile T&C clauses — moves a site up the scale. See the full method on our How We Rate page.
Our ratings are based on publicly observable criteria and data analysis. This is not a guarantee of legitimacy, prize fulfilment, or financial security. We are not affiliated with any competition site. Always do your own research before entering competitions or spending money.