Online casinos are enjoying something of a boom period, with more and more people wagering online thanks, in part, to a rise in the sites’ downloadable mobile apps. However, it’s one thing to want to play at an online casino via its app, but you still need to move the money into your gaming account. Luckily, there are plenty of options for people who want to pay so they can play. Today, we are going to look at some of the most popular and widely used payment methods that online casinos take and talk about their pros and cons.
1. Bank cards
Visa is the most popular payment card system in America, with transactions on the network totalling $6.445 trillion, more than the country’s other major payment facilitators combined. So, it’s not going to be a massive surprise that, when it comes to putting cash in casinos, Visa is one of the top picks. Pretty much every online casino that takes real money accepts Visa and, with most Americans having one, they’re pretty much ubiquitous. A Visa transaction is fast and efficient, with money going into your account in seconds. On the flipside, it can be difficult to get your winnings paid onto your Visa. Unlike players in the UK and Europe, a lot of gamblers might find that their banks don’t like it when they withdraw from a gambling site. And if Visa is number one when it comes to card payments in the United States, Mastercard is very much number two. Again, a lot of online casinos will accept Mastercard, and the process is going to be pretty quick. On the other hand, though, the same worries that many American banks have about gambling transactions that apply to Visa also apply to Mastercard. In fact, there are reports that Mastercard’s rejection rate for gambling transactions is a little higher than Visa’s. It is also worth noting that Mastercard may not be quite as well accepted by gambling sites in general, compared to Visa, although that evidence may just be anecdotal. It’s also worth mentioning here that Discover bank cards are also accepted by a growing number of online casinos, but can often face the same problems as Visa and Mastercard.
2. Bank transfers
If you don’t want to use traditional bank cards to fund your online casino account, there are plenty of other ways you can do so. Something that more and more web-based gamblers are using is a form of bank transfer. Perhaps the most popular among these are the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network and its eCheck platform. An eCheck helps you get verified on the system. What is worth noting is that the network will automatically give you a seven-day rolling deposit limit for gambling based on your overall financial profile. This will apply to all betting sites, so you can split your allowance between different online casinos if you want, and it can be useful because it could help you keep on top of your betting. That said, there are some downsides to ACH and eCheck. While most sites will accept withdrawals, they can be pretty slow, taking as long as five working days. You will also need to use a traditional bank account, rather than a prepaid card. Alternatively, you could also deposit using an online bank transfer, but it is relatively uncommon for online casinos to let you withdraw with this method. There’s also the rather old-fashioned wire transfer method. On one hand, this allows you to deposit and withdraw pretty significant amounts of money, but it can take as long as a week for the money to move.
3. eWallets
eWallets have become an incredibly popular way to pay for goods and services online, and web-based casinos are getting in on the action. PayPal is pretty much the most popular of these, allowing players to both withdraw and deposit cash instantly and offering customer protection, too. That said, there are some casinos that won’t accept both deposit and withdrawal via PayPal, so make sure you double-check things. PayPal also relies on full Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, so keep that in mind, too. Meanwhile, mobile gamers can use either Google Pay or Apple Pay, depending on whether they have an Android device or an iPhone. Although these payment methods are increasingly common in online casinos, they are just that – payment methods. Don’t expect to be able to use them for withdrawals. Something else that is becoming more and more popular in the same category is Venmo. This payment service is really starting to take off. With its inbuilt social payment system, casinos are starting to accept it, albeit not as widely as PayPal, and it often won’t process withdrawals.
4. Prepaid options
You can also mix the modern with the traditional in some casinos. If your online casino is the internet branch of a bricks-and-mortar gambling house, you may find that you are able to pay with a casino-specific prepaid card. These are usually linked to individual casinos, so make sure that your casino accepts them. If they do, then you can enjoy instant deposits and very quick withdrawals. Taking things a step further, some casinos allow you to deposit money into your online account at the physical site itself. However, you do have to be able to visit the casino in person, so this option may well not be for everyone.
5. Cryptocurrency
Finally, let’s talk about cryptocurrency and the growing number of blockchain casinos. These are becoming increasingly popular thanks to their lack of KYC checks, emphasis on player privacy, and near-instant deposit and withdrawal times. Although Bitcoin is the crypto of choice for most casinos, some other payment options, including Ethereum, Tether, and Litecoin, are available. It is worth noting, however, that registered, licensed casinos in the US don’t take crypto, so you would be looking at going offshore if you want to gamble with cryptocurrency.