Casino Banking Methods

Processing Fees

You’re going to come across a few casinos that will charge you a fee for either depositing or withdrawing or both.

Personally, I never like paying a fee when I’m making a deposit.

I don’t think it’s necessary, it just feels wrong that I have to pay to play with my own money.

I completely understand that casinos are businesses, but for me, that’s just the overhead of doing business. Fees shouldn’t be directly passed onto the customer.

When I’m presented with a casino that wants to charge me, I either choose a deposit method that doesn’t have a fee or I find another casino.

There’s plenty of live casinos out there that don’t make a charge for depositing.

Security – A few things to Remember

You’re probably pretty savvy about using the Internet to make purchases, but there are a few things I want to highlight before you start entering personal and financial details into a site.

• Make sure that when you’re asked to enter your financial details you’re doing it on a page that is secure. That means the start of the URL should begin with Https and there should be a closed padlock to the left of it. If you want to make doubly sure, click on the padlock to confirm the secure connection relates to the website you’re using. If the site doesn’t have this it means the traffic from your PC to the site is not encrypted, it’s the clear text that someone could intercept and read.
• Never enter details on a page that you’ve navigated to through an email link or link on another site. Navigate to the Banking page from the Home page or the Your Account page. This will ensure you’re not on a bogus site.
• There is something called PCI  DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards), that defines how merchants/casinos hold data from your credit/debit card. They are not allowed to hold the CVV number or show the whole of the long number on the front of the card. Don’t use them if they do as your personal data will be at risk.
• Don’t leave your Credit/Debit card laying around at home. It’s not unknown for family members to use someone else’s card to play at online casinos.
• Don’t let Google Chrome or any Internet browser save your credit card details on your PC. It may be convenient for you, but it’s not secure.
• Lastly – never reveal your Pin number to anyone. There is no reason to use it when making a transaction online.

How to Deposit

There will be a Banking or Cashier page on the casino’s website with all deposit and withdrawal methods nicely laid out.

It’s common that when you withdraw you’ll have to use the same payment method that you deposited with. This is for Anti Money Laundering reasons.

I’ve been caught out once by this when I made a deposit using one of my debit cards. I lost my money. I then used another card to deposit with and won some money that I wanted to withdraw. But because I had already deposited using another card and effectively had a negative balance against that method on my account, I had to withdraw back to that card until I cleared the negative balance! However, to do this I needed to add the card again (as I’d previously deleted it from my account), make a small deposit to activate it, and then make the withdrawal. This is absolutely crazy, but something I was told I would have to do if I wanted to get my money.

Deposit and Withdrawal Times

Deposits are normally processed instantly; however, withdrawals can go from instant to 3- 5 days.

The timings are often controlled by the payment processors and are out of the control of the casinos.

Again you’ll find differences between casinos, so it’s worth shopping around.

The quickest methods tend to be to the online E-Wallets like PayPal, Neteller or Skrill. These can be almost instantaneous.

Deposit Methods

Bank Transfers

There’s a couple of methods for transferring money from your Bank Account.

• Direct from your Bank Account using Internet Banking.
• Using a third-party payment processor.

Direct from your Bank Account

This is probably the most traditional way and still very popular. Most people use Internet Banking to make their payments, but if you’re old school, you can go into the branch and make a deposit over the counter.

The casino will provide you with their bank account details, account number, and sort code, and if it’s an international transaction an IBAN number and BIC code.

You’ll need to provide a unique reference, normally your player account number so the funds get credited to your account.

This transaction can take 3 – 5 days depending on yours and the casino’s bank.

Sometimes the transactions can be instant, but this really depends on how the casino makes the link between your account and it’s bank account.

Using a third Party

An alternative method to using a direct bank transfer is to use a Third Party, like Trustly. Many casinos offer this facility as it’s a comprehensive method for people wanting to deposit from many different banks.

Trustly has connections with all the major banks.

You won’t need to create an account or provide Trustly with any personal details.

You log in to your bank account through the Trustly interface, select the account where you want to take the money from, enter a few security codes to confirm the transaction, and the transfer is made. Depending on the bank, the transfer may be immediate.

The processing time for your Bank is normally displayed within the Trustly interface under your Bank’s icon.

Debit/Credit Card

This is probably one of the most popular methods, as most people have a debit or credit card.

Some credit card companies, especially Mastercard,  are a bit funny about allowing their customers to deposit money to an online casino using a credit card.

Personally, I believe you shouldn’t be gambling using credit, it’s never a good idea. I steer away from using credit cards and use my debit card instead.

With Debit Card the money is coming straight from your account into your player account.

Deposits are instant but withdrawals back to a debit card typically take a few days.

E-Wallets

E-Wallets are electronic accounts, that allow you to pay, send money, and accept payments without revealing your financial details.

If you open an account at any of these merchants you will have to provide information to prove who you are.

The checks are straightforward but may take a few days to process, so be prepared for a small delay.

There’s a whole host of E-Wallets, I’ve listed the 3 most common ones.

PayPal

If you’ve ever bought or sold something on eBay you would have come across Paypal.

Your Paypal account is linked to your Bank Account or Debit/Credit card, so you never have to worry about a lack of funds in the account.

You can use Paypal to deposit/withdraw money at online casinos and the process is really easy.

At the time of deposit or withdrawal you enter the amount you want to transfer, logon to your account and it’s done in an instant.

Neteller

This is probably the most popular E-Wallet used by online gamblers. It’s accepted almost everywhere.

Unlike Paypal, you need money in your account to be able to use it.

Although it’s connected to your Bank Card or Bank Account, there is no automatic process for transferring funds between the two.

Neteller is really good if you want to send or receive funds or for making online payments. When you transfer funds back to your Bank Account you will normally have to pay a fee. As a result, I tend to leave my withdrawals to once a month to limit the fees I pay.

Skrill

Skrill is effectively the same as Neteller and is now owned by the same company, so it’s the same in all but name.

It works exactly the same as Neteller. I use Skrill for business use and they seem to be fussy about certain things, so I tend to use Paypal/Neteller more often than I do Skrill.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are starting to be offered as a deposit and withdrawal method at a limited number of live casinos.

It’s likely that you’ve heard of Bitcoin but maybe you don’t understand what they are.

In simplistic terms Bitcoin is a digital currency, that was first created in 2008.  It behaves like any other currency, in that you can buy it, sell it, invest it and spend it. What’s different is it has no physical presence (there’s no notes or coins). It’s purely digital and is secured using encryption technologies, unlike “real money” which uses clever inks, paper, and holograms to prevent fraud.

There is a record of every Bitcoin transaction made, but what’s unique about using Bitcoin is the transaction is not traceable to any particular individual.

You keep Bitcoins in an Electronic wallet, either online, on your PC, or on a hardware device like a USB stick. You buy and sell Bitcoins using a Bitcoin exchange where you purchase them for real cash, using your debit/credit card, or by other means.

Once the funds are in your wallet you’re able to spend them at online shops or in our case make deposits at online casinos.

Wikipedia has a really comprehensive description of Bitcoin. It’s worth reading if you’d like to understand how it all works.

See a list of live casinos that accept Bitcoin as a payment method.

Account Verification – Know your Customer

Whenever you sign up for one of the accounts above (excluding Bitcoin), the company has to perform a process called Know Your Customer.

The business has to identify and verify the identity of its clients, so you’ll have to provide evidence to prove you are who you say you are. This normally requires you to produce proof of address, proof of who you are, like a birth certificate or passport, and details of the cards you’re using to fund the accounts.

Once you signup at a casino you’ll have to go through the same process. Sometimes you’ll be asked to do it when you deposit for the first time. More usually you’ll be asked when you come to make your first withdrawal or when you try to withdraw more than around £/€2,300.

I’d advise you to read the Casino’s Terms and Conditions to understand what you’ll need to do.

Withdrawals and Pending Times

Getting your money out from a casino can be a chore. It seems that some of them almost deliberately make it difficult for you to withdraw, I guess hoping that you give up and lose the money you’ve won back again.

In my experience I come across a few things you should be aware of:

• The Withdraw button or menu option is just not there. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve not been able to find the withdraw option. It’s a sneaky ploy by the casino. Just take a look at some casinos to see what I mean. You might have to go to “Your Account” or even the Deposit screen to find the Withdrawal option.
• Pending Periods – This is a period of time that the casino holds your money for after you have completed the withdrawal process. The period can be 24 to 48 hrs where your money just sits in this limbo state. Guess what?, you can Reverse the withdrawal and play some more. Again this is sneaky tactic casinos use hoping that you’ll reverse your money and lose it. I’ve done it myself, I’ve gone back the next day, seen the money there, reversed it, and lost. I kick myself every time I do it.
• Flushing – This is normally something you have to request through Customer Support. Basically, you’re asking them to cancel the pending period and release your withdrawal for immediate processing. You’ll get the payment either immediately or at the next payment run, depending on the policy at the casino. Flushing is not normally advertised by the casino, but if you ask quite a few will oblige, especially if you’ve had a nice big win.

Summary

Depositing money into your player account at an online casino is really easy. There are loads of Casino Banking methods to choose from. Which one you choose to use is down to personal preference and how you feel about the different options.

I find the Debit card to be the most straightforward. But if you don’t fancy giving your details to the casino the using an E-Wallet is a good alternative. While fees may not be taken when you deposit or withdraw using this method, there is a fee when you want to get the money back into your bank account. If you use the Wallet for other general purchases online then that ceases to become an issue.

Cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream now. Players and casinos seem to be more comfortable with using them. They are great if you want to protect your anonymity and they are useful if you don’t want to go through a verification process with a casino.

I want to add a word of caution about this. I fully understand why you might not want to give personal details away, but a casino that doesn’t want to know who their customers are is also a casino that isn’t following regulated standards of operation and could therefore disappear without a trace, taking your player account money with them.

So be sure to only play only at recommended Bitcoin Casinos.