Casino Payments

Most online casinos offer multiple methods to deposit money to your online casino account. The most common methods are:

• Debit or credit card
• E-wallet
• Bank transfer
• Prepaid cards
• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
• National payment methods specific to a certain country

If you have a credit cards or an account at one of the major e-wallet providers such as Neteller and Skrill (which was previously known as Moneybookers) you are in luck, as these payment methods are virtually everywhere accepted. The only thing to note is that only Visa and MasterCard credit cards are universally accepted. American Express credit cards lags behind these two major credit card systems and not all online casinos will accept it. Payment by bank transfer is a good third option, although there are some casinos out there which do not accept bank transfers to deposit money. If you however use a less popular e-wallet, certain debit cards and lesser known e-wallets, or are dependent on national e-commerce payment methods (for example Sofort in Germany or iDeal in the Netherlands), then you need to take care when selecting a casino to play at given the fact that not all online casinos will support these payment methods.

These days, using a credit cards is one of the most popular ways to make an online payment, although credit cards ownership and usage is still highly variably depending on the country in which people live. In countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and the nations of Scandinavia, credit card ownership is almost universal, with most consumers opting for payment by card. Other big economies in the world, such as those in central and southern Europe, do not have a similar historical tradition of credit card usage as the debit card is often still king here. If you have a credit card – or can easily attain one through your bank or any other credit card provider – then you are lucky, as casino payments can be easily made with your card. The most common and widely accepted of credit cards are Visa and MasterCard, followed by American Express a bit behind in third place. While virtually every online casino accepts Visa and MasterCard, you should check carefully whether or not the same counts for American Express.

Putting money on your online casino account using your credit card is very straightforward as it works in the exact same way as any other online transaction such as buying a new set of clothes or a plane ticket. Just fill out your name, credit card number, expiry date, as well as the last three digits on the back of your card, type or select the amount of money you want to deposit to your online casino account and voila – you have made the transaction! Casinos usually process credit card transactions instantly and the money will be available on your online casino account in seconds.

Many debit cards (most notably those issued by MasterCard or Visa, such as for example the Visa Classic or Visa Electron) can also be used to make online casino payments. It basically works the exact same way as making a payment by credit card just like we described above, with the obvious difference that the money will be directly withdrawn from your bank account and not from your ‘credit’ which you have to pay back later. Just like credit cards, the amount which you selected will be instantly available on your online casino account, so you can start playing right away. Even though the most common Visa and MasterCard debit cards are quite widely accepted at online casinos, there are a handful of casinos which only allow payment by a proper credit card. If you use a debit card which does not use the standard MasterCard or Visa networks, chances are much lower that it will be accepted at an online casino.

Together with the credit card, the e-wallet is probably the best option to make payments to an online casino. If you are new to the world of online casinos you might not yet realise this, but most online casino experts and high rollers actually prefer using e-wallets above anything else! The advantages are quite clear. You can often open an e-wallet account for free, you can link the e-wallet to your own bank account or credit or debit card and payments are normally processed instantly. Transaction costs are often lower and you have by far the best transaction privacy.

There are many e-wallets available and most can be opened for free. Neteller and Skrill (which was previously known as Moneybookers) are the two which are most widely, being nearly universally accepted at online casinos. Ukash, Click and Buy, PaySafe and Paypal are other e-wallets, although they may or may not be accepted by online casinos as valid payment method, so check in advance whether or not a casino offers this as a valid payment option.

A prepaid card might be an option for people who do not have a credit card and whose debit cards are not accepted by an online casino. Especially if you might be unable to obtain a credit card and when you have a debit card using any other transaction network than Visa or MasterCard, this can be a good option to make an online payment to a casino. A prepaid card works similarly as a debit card, such as a Visa electron or Visa classic, which we described above. The only difference is that such a prepaid card is not linked to your bank account but is already charged with a certain amount of money on your card. For example, you can buy a prepaid card with 1,000 EUR credit on it. Many of such prepaid cards can be recharged as well when you have used all the money on it by simply going to a high street retailer point which sells them, or to make a bank transfer to put money onto it.

Before you consider this option it is wise to check first which prepaid cards are accepted by the casino you have selected. If in doubt you can always contact the help desk of the casino. Often, prepaid cards will have a Visa or MasterCard logo on them, meaning that they will be almost universally accepted. One of the better known prepaid card providers is Paysafe, which is a quite popular option among gamblers and is accepted by most online casinos. You can buy such a card online or in shops in the same way as you would buy credits for a prepaid mobile phone. Another example of a prepaid card system is Ukash.

On paper a bank transfer might sound like the easiest way to make a casino payment. We all use bank transfers in our daily lives to pay for bills and with the advance of internet and mobile banking such transactions can be made within seconds. While it might be the easiest option, it is however not necessarily the best method when it comes to making casino payments. Even though depositing money to an online casino this way is as easy as paying for your utilities bill, it is unfortunately among the slower methods. Especially if the online casino is located in a country different than the one in which your bank is based it can easily take a couple of days or even weeks before the money is received by the casino. Compared to the instant payments by credit card, debit card or e-wallet that is a long time to wait before you can start playing.

There are however some reasons why gamblers might still opt for a bank transfer. The biggest reason is that by using a bank transfer you can transfer much bigger amounts of money in one go compared to the use of a credit card. Often, online casinos have maximum limits in place for credit card or e-wallet transactions. In many cases players might have their own maximum limits to their credit card, which for example might be capped at a 2,000 EUR limit. If you are a high roller and might for example want to deposit 20,000 EUR to your online casino account, a bank transfer might in this case make more sense. Of course, you can also deposit money by bank transfer on your credit card or e-wallet, and then make a transaction to the online casino from there. In many cases this will be a quicker option.

Do however note that while most online casinos accept bank transfers, there are some which solely accept instant online payments (credit and debit cards, e-wallets and the like), so do not automatically assume that you can pay at a casino by bank transfer.

Using cryptocurrencies might be advantageous for those who might already have a stack of Bitcoin or other currencies. It is not something which we would recommend at all for those who have never dealt with Bitcoin before. In this case, an advantage might be the quick payment speeds and low transaction costs in comparison to other payment methods. The privacy of cryptocurrency transactions might be another benefit to some players. Some casinos will accept a payment in Bitcoin and will automatically convert it according to the daily rate to euros or dollars, while other casinos have special Bitcoin games where you can actually gamble with your coins – and hopefully earn more Bitcoin back!

While payment methods such as credit cards, bank transfers and e-wallets are used around the globe and are available to players irrespective where they reside, there are a couple of payment methods which can only be found in a certain country. For example, the Dutch have their iDeal system to make instant e-commerce payments, the Germans have Sofort as a similar fast online payment system, in Belgium a method named Bankcontact/Mr. Cash is used, and so fort. Such payment methods are especially popular in countries without a real credit card culture like the USA, and can be very handy to pay for goods online.

Although not every online casino caters to the entire world, there are an increasing number of casinos where such rare payment methods are offered. If you do not have a credit card or e-wallet, and might face high transaction costs or a long time waiting when using a bank transfer, then you should check whether or not there are reputable online casinos out there offering alternative payment methods. As a rule of thumb: if a casino offers a language option for your country, you might find that they also accept unique payment methods from your country. A German-language casino is obviously more likely to accept typical German payment methods than one without, as this casino clearly will cater towards the German market!

While you have a huge variety of payment options when it comes to depositing money to your online casino account, there are less options when it is payout time. When you have won a nice amount of money on a slot machine, or have acquired a small fortune with a few hands of blackjack, you do of course want to cash out your winnings. Fortunately, there is always a way to do this and to get your hands on your hard earned cash.

Even though the available payout methods highly depend on the casino where you play at, there are three universal methods which you will find back at almost every online casino. These are:

• credit card
• e-wallet
• bank transfer

Most casinos will allow you to select your preferred payout method, although there might be certain limitations which you need to keep in mind. A casino can often restrict payouts to a maximum amount per week or month. For example, a casino might have the rule that they can only pay you at a maximum of 10,000 EUR per week. These payment restrictions are often put in place by payment providers or by the casino itself in order to ensure liquidity and are nothing strange. Even if you might have won an amount greater than the maximum limit, let’s say 50,000 EUR while hitting the jackpot on a slot, you will still get all your money. In this case you would only have to wait for five weeks until you have received the full amount, as the casino will transfer it in five instalments of 10,000 EUR per transaction. Luckily, many casinos have negotiable payouts if you win a jackpot so that you do not need to wait for a long time to get your hands on your casino profits.

Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to payouts are the time frames for each individual method. Even when a casino might be able to process your payout instantly the moment when you request it, it will still be in the hands of a payment provider when it comes to the speed by which the money will appear on your account. Credit card and e-wallet payouts are generally the fastest option. In many cases, a casino can process these payments instantly or in a short time frame of a few hours up to one or two days only. In ideal cases, your money might even appear on your e-wallet account on the same day, although two to three days is more common. With credit cards it might take a bit longer, as even when a casino has processed your payout request on the same day, it would most likely still take an additional two to three days before your bank or credit card provider will have received the money and updated your account status.

Just like deposits, bank transfers are also the slowest method when it comes to paying out your casino winnings. This is especially the case if a casino is based in a different country than you and when it uses a different currency than your home country. First of all, it would usually take a few days just for the casino to process the payout request. Then the transfer is at the mercy of the banks of the casino and your own bank. It can easily take two or three weeks before the money will finally appear on your account, although some casinos can do it faster in about a week. There are however some great advantages of a payout by bank transfer. Even though it is slower, there are likely less restrictions to a transfer. If you might have won a huge sum of money, you will often find that a casino might only opt for a bank transfer as a way to pay out your profits after verification.

People who are tech savvy and know their way around the internet will often find paying at an online casino and requesting a payout of their casino profits to be extremely straightforward. Beginning gamblers, as well as people who are less familiar with modern-day internet technology, might however be less familiar with all the available options, rules and restrictions. If you are such a person you might appreciate our Beginner’s Guide to Casino Payments. In this guide, we will discuss each and every detail about the depositing process, as well as the process of cashing out your casino winnings.

If you are unsure which payment option works the best for you, or if you might come across some strange sounding rules or restrictions at an online casino, we recommended you to read this guide as we also go through each and every situation. If you have a specific question or common problem, chances are big that we will have explained it in detail in this guide.

Of course, the final word always goes to the individual casino in question! Even though we are able to explain you the general methods and rules regarding payments, the situation might still be slightly different from casino to casino. Not only does each online casino have their own set of accepted methods, they will also have their own payout time frames or specific rules set which are unique only to that casino.

A quick glance at a casino’s website will often answer a lot of questions. Many casinos list their accepted payment methods at the bottom of their website (in the form of small logos of each method, such as showing the well-known MasterCard and Visa logos and such). Often, online casinos have a separate payment page where their rules and regulations are explained. Sometimes, these can also be found back in FAQ or ‘About us’ sections or something similar.

At Gambling City, we have a huge list of online casinos in our database which we have personally reviewed for you. In these independent reviews we do not only tell you all the pros and cons of each casino, but we also discuss our experiences when it comes to payments. Within one glance you can see here which payment methods are accepted, while in the review itself you can read more about average payout speeds and any noteworthy details regarding rules and restrictions if the casino has