Top tips for safe deposits and withdrawals at online casinos

Safe deposits and withdrawals

If you have ever been to a land-based casino, you will know how easy it is to make a deposit to play any game. You can simply load cash notes into slot machines or exchange chips for cash with dealers at the tables.

Cashing out is almost just as easy. Simply walk across to the cashier and present your loyalty card, chips, or slot pay-out slip, and they will redeem your winnings in cash.

Online gambling involves more procedures and patience than that. Though this may seem initially daunting, if you read the contents of this guide you will learn much of the important information you will need to be confident when approaching the online cashier.

Getting started

Before being able to deposit funds at an online casino so that you can play, you will need to set up a personal account or profile. This will involve a few basic steps:

1. Proceed to the “Sign-Up” menu in the casino lobby/home page. Here you will need to follow the prompts. You will need to provide some of your personal information, provide an email address, and a unique username as well as a password, to secure your account.
2. Next up you will need to agree to the standard terms and conditions of the casino.
3. Select a banking method of choice.
4. Confirm your casino account by clicking on a link that will be emailed to you.
5. Make your deposit.
6. Play.
   
   

Deposits

Making a deposit at a casino is always much faster than withdrawing funds. There are a number of safe methods that can be employed to pay funds over to the casino instantly, allowing you no time wastage before you can head to the tables.

Depositing funds into a casino is much like “checking out” at an online store. You will need to:

• Select the amount that you wish to use at the casino
• Select a banking method for payment
  
  

Note that third-party payment facilities, like e-wallets etc, will require you to fund them first before you can fund the casino through them. The reason why people may decide to go this route is because of the speed of deposit and withdrawal through this kind of method, as well as the extra security offered.

Withdrawals

Should you make winnings at an online casino, you will need to withdraw the funds before you can spend them. This process may take a bit longer than the instant deposit that you made initially. This delay could be down to a number of factors:

• You will most probably need to verify your age and identity before a withdrawal will take place.
• Some countries, like the United Kingdom, must have all pay-outs approved by an agent before the funds are released. This approval could take from a few hours to several days.
• Certain banking methods may take longer than others. Any method using your bank directly will most probably involve waiting a few days for clearance.
  
  

Withdrawals can also incur costs. A pay-out fee may be levied by certain casinos prior to releasing funds, and then on top of that, certain banking costs may be levied by your chosen cash-out method. You will find all of this information clearly stipulated on the payment pages of your favourite online casino.

Be aware too, that sites generally have maximum withdrawal limits, which should be identified before placing your first deposit.

Tips for safe and speedy deposits and withdrawals

Make sure that you are over 18, because although you may be able to deposit funds without proof of ID, you may not be able to withdraw the winnings without it.

• Before making a deposit, make sure you know what the minimum deposits required are at your online casino of choice.
• Be sure to find out what the maximum withdrawal limit is at the casino, before making your first deposit.
• When signing up, make sure that you use a strong password to protect your account.
• Ensure that you have read reviews on the casino you are using, prior to both depositing funds and providing sensitive information to them.
• Select a payment method to suit your circumstances. Should you want safe and secure payments with a dash of speed in both depositing and withdrawing funds, make use of one of the e-wallet methods.
  
  

Banking methods

If you were paying attention to the first half of this guide, you would know that choosing the correct payment/banking method to suit you will go a long way to minimising frustration when either depositing or withdrawing funds. As such, we will look at some of the more popular forms of payment and withdrawal methods, so that you can make an informed decision of which one(s) to use.

Credit and Debit Cards

“Plastic Money” is most assuredly being trusted more and more around the world for making purchases both online and directly in stores. These days, credit and debit cards are far safer than carrying large amounts of cash around on your person.

In the online gaming arena, credit cards and debit cards are a safe way to transact. VISA is the leader in this industry, with more casinos accepting it than Mastercard. American Express is not used much by online casinos, for two reasons: 1) The fees charged to vendors are exorbitant and 2) The United States has a nationwide ban on online gambling.

Depositing to a casino with a card will require you to supply the card number, expiry date, and the security CVV number on the back of the card. Banks safeguard you against unauthorised spending, so if this info falls into the wrong hands, there is a good chance that any losses incurred will be refunded to you by your bank.

Although this form of transaction is safe, it is not fast on the withdrawal side. Deposits may go through immediately, but withdrawals may only clear back into your account in a few days. This is primarily due to archaic bank procedures used at your banking institution.

Bank Wire Transfers

Most, if not all online casinos will transact via various bank wire transfers, including EFTs (electronic funds transfers). Most casinos see this as the preferred form of funds transfer due to the multi-level security employed on such payments to benefit both payer and payee.

Speed and cost are the downfalls of this method, as clearance into your account may take up to 7 days. Depending on the amount paid, you could be met with rather large bank fees to accompany the inconvenience of the wait.

Instant Bank Transfer

This form of banking method is proving very popular when making deposits. It sidesteps the time disadvantages of bank wire transfers, by assuming the risk and paying the casino without delay.

“Trustly” is proving to be the foremost provider of this service to online casinos. Instead of approaching your bank to wire the transfer to the online casino, you will need to provide Trustly with all of your banking details. They will then honour the purchase or payment on your behalf and claim the money back from your bank later.

The costs involved are minimal on their side, but you must be aware that you could be charged by your bank for the transaction.

Another trusted name in Instant Bank Transfers is “iDEAL”. This is a very popular Scandinavian alternative to Trustly and does not levy fees for transactions.

E-Wallets

E-Wallets are secure accounts that can store cash in a wallet type account. These can be linked to and topped up from your banking account or credit card.

This form of banking method is most certainly the most preferred method amongst online gamblers. This is due to various factors:

• It is user-friendly
• It is safe
• It is fast
  
  

Casino withdrawals are done quite speedily through this form of the method and generally can guarantee that you will receive your pay-out funds within 24 hours.

Unlike some of the other methods, a number of e-wallet service providers run loyalty programs that could put “bucks” back in your wallet. The more popular versions of this form of banking are:

PayPal

“PayPal” is the most popular form of e-wallet in the world. It was founded by world-famous entrepreneur, Elon Musk, and it currently has around 200 million active accounts.

Though it may be super popular and easy to use in most industry circles, it is not a gambler friendly method. Their policies surrounding gambling are extremely strict and they are therefore not a fancied provider by online casinos.

Skrill

“Skrill” was formerly known as “Moneybookers”. Although it is one of the newbies to the market, it is already accepted in over 200 countries worldwide. It is a very secure payment method that offers very fast transactional speeds. This is the reason that this method is very well supported by online casinos.

There is a small fee involved in using Skrill, but we see this as a minor detail when balanced with the level of service on offer.

NETELLER

“NETELLER” was originally specifically designed to service the gambling industry. As such it is geared to provide super-fast deposits and make speedy withdrawals. Like Skrill, you can almost guarantee that you will receive your withdrawals within 24 hours. These will however still need to be transferred into your banking account if you want to draw cash.

NETELLER services around 200 countries, and has more online casino goers than any of the other methods. In 2005 it reached its peak, by claiming a share of 80% of all online casino payments. This market share may not be an accurate number presently, due to the fierce competition now offered by Skrill and others.

Cheque Payments

Some casinos may offer cheque payment as a form of withdrawal. This is a lengthy process of payment as it involves the following:

• The payment must be cleared by an agent in some countries.
• The cheque must be made out by someone with signing authority at the casino
• The cheque must then be couriered to the bank
• Once banked, the cheque may have to sit dormant in the account for up to 7 days before it is cleared for usage.
  
  

The above procedure ensures that a cheque payment may take around 2 weeks to conclude from the moment of the withdrawal request. A cheque deposit may also incur heavy service fees and courier costs, and as such is a very archaic method of doing business on the online gambling platform.

Prepaid Cards/Vouchers

Leaders in this industry are “Paysafecard” and “Ukash”, which are gaining traction as ways to deposit cash at your casino. These vouchers are available to buy at many retailers across Europe and especially the United Kingdom, where the purchase is made as if you were buying any gift voucher at a store. This amount is paid for in-store and then redeemed at your online casino by inputting a voucher code.

This method is highly secure and almost 100% full-proof.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a virtual currency that is mined online via various algorithms. This form of currency has taken the world by storm and has gained huge popularity worldwide. The leader in this field is Bitcoin.

There are a number of casinos that accept cryptocurrency for trade. It is a very safe, efficient, and fast way of depositing and withdrawing funds.

Bitcoin transactions are often instant, but pay-out times may vary due to various determining factors, such as the terms and conditions of the site, as well as the wallet used to transact.

So, which methods are best?

In our estimation, by reviewing the pros and cons, as well as taking a look at method popularity, we can reach certain conclusions as to what the best payment methods are in the online gambling industry. Below are 2 lists that demarcate the best methods of 1) payment and 2) withdrawal.

Top Deposit Methods:

Trustly

Trustly is an independent company that facilitates bank transfers from your bank to a casino with increased security and real-time processing speeds.

Learn more

iDeal

iDEAL operates as a secure payment gateway between your personal bank account and over 60 iDeal Online Casinos, which you can visit from this link.

Learn more

Paysafecard

Paysafecard is a cash voucher used as a popular method of depositing money into your casino account at reliable online casinos in order to increase your bankroll.

Learn more

Top Deposit & Withdrawal Methods

Skrill

Skrill is a simple and fast digital payment service that offers gamblers safe options for making deposits and withdrawals to and from international online casino operators.

Learn more

Neteller

NETELLE is among the most popular and trustworthy E-wallet solutions for the online gambling industry, it offers safe deposit and withdrawal processes for the worldwide casino market.

Learn more

As seen above there are several methods that work just as well as each other when depositing cash safely and efficiently into an online casino wallet. Withdrawals, however, are dominated by e-wallets, as the speed of delivery is unparalleled. The cash can clear within minutes, and very rarely exceeds 48 hours to turn around in severe cases.