Gambling Deposit Methods

Unlike land-based casinos there is no way to work on a cash
and carry basis with an online casino. Everything is handled
electronic from funding your account to transferring money from
the account to a specific game, back to your account, and
finally to withdrawals. The myriad of payment options accepted
by online casinos is confusing at best and frustrating at worst
because some payment processing services may not operate in all
nations.

In general you will use an intermediary service to protect
your privacy and your principal financial resources. Each casino
has a “Cashier” page that explains what options are available
for deposits and withdrawals. You may see more deposit than
withdrawal options or more withdrawal than deposit options.

Some of the popular payment processing solutions require that
you fund them with a credit card and they may charge a monthly
service fee. US players may have fewer options than players from
European or Asian countries. Casinos may also block access from
certain countries, such as conservative nations in the Middle
East and nations from Eastern Europe. US players may also be
blocked in some casinos.

The following list of deposit options is no exhaustive. These
are the most common methods still available today. One method in
particular, bitcoin, may become ubiquitous due to its security
and anonymity.

US Friendly Deposit Options

US players should be aware that the 2006 Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) made it difficult and in some
cases impossible to make direct deposits to and withdrawals from
online casinos, except in certain circumstances. You will need
to review the payment options provided by the casino of your
choice very carefully. There is usually a minimum deposit
requirement that varies by payment method. Most deposit methods
also have transaction limits. Unless otherwise noted by the
casino funds should be available immediately.

Bitcoin and Ethereum

Bitcoin and other electronic currencies such as Ethereum are
popular digital alternatives to hard currency. The transactions
are recorded in public records called blockchains that are
maintained by a voluntary community of computer owners. The
computers are called miners and they earn very small fees from
every transaction by solving equations that guarantee the
integrity of the transactions. Several miners must agree on a
solution before a transaction is encoded into the public
blockchain.

Bitcoin and Ethereum are stored in wallets, which work like
bank accounts. You can create as many wallets as you need. Each
wallet can send or receive the digital currency for which it was
created. The receiving wallet must issue a unique, single use
address to the sender. A wallet may only have one active address
at a time.

Wallet providers operate as standalone services. To convert
hard currency (usually US dollars or Euros) to Bitcoin or
Ethereum, or vice versa, you need to create an account with an
exchange. These services operate like commodities brokerages
where you buy and sell digital currencies at market prices. The
exchanges require you to verify your identity and banking
information before you can deposit or withdraw hard currencies.

Some casinos now prefer to work with Bitcoin and they may
offer players incentives to make deposits via Bitcoin.

Visa / MasterCard

Credit cards are trusted media of exchange because their
issuing banks offer guarantees against fraud. Credit cards are
ubiquitous as online payment processing systems and they do
offer the benefit of protecting your primary bank account from
direct connection to online merchants. Nonetheless, some banks
block credit card transactions with online casinos due to the
laws and regulations of their governing countries.

Large transfers of cash may be reported to the IRS in
compliance with banking regulations. If your credit card
transaction is blocked you should consider a different deposit
option.

Online casinos typically use third party processing services
to accept credit card deposits. In this way the transactions are
not coded as gambling transactions. You cannot withdraw money
directly to a US credit card.

Pre-paid Debit Cards

Debit cards may be provided by many different companies, not
just major banks. Some online casinos may accept deposits from
pre-paid debit cards. Popular branded or co-branded debit cards
include Pre-paid American Express, Pre-paid GreenDot Moneypak,
Pre-paid Mastercard, and Pre-paid Visa cards. Some casinos may
not be able to accept these debit cards.

EZ Voucher or Paste and Pay

Online casinos that support this deposit method use a third
party service to sell you a voucher. You pay the third party
service with a credit card or pre-paid debit card. The voucher
you purchase is assigned a unique identification number you then
use to activate the voucher with the casino. Each voucher can
only be used once. The casino requires you to verify your
identity the first time you use the voucher deposit system.

Pre-paid vouchers are a great choice for making deposits
because they have no overdraft or credit option. The voucher
funds your casino account for only a specific amount and if you
need more money you must purchase another voucher.

ecoPayz

ecoPayz is an online payment processor service similar to
PayPal. You make deposits directly to ecoPayz and withdraw
directly to your bank account. The casinos that accept ecoPayz
deposits may impose deposit limits, daily or weekly or monthly
limits, and require 2-3 business days to complete withdrawal
transactions. However, ecoPayz offers Pre-paid debit cards
co-branded through MasterCard. There is also a virtual one use
ecoVirtualcard.

NETELLER

Now owned by PaySafe, the NETELLER payment processor service
accepts deposits from Mastercard or Visa accounts and is used to
make deposits to and withdrawals from casinos. The casinos
usually impose a limit on deposit transactions, a weekly or
monthly limit on NETELLER deposits, and require 2-3 business
days to complete transactions. NETELLER also charges a monthly
fee.

PaySafecard

Owned by PaySafe, the Paysafecard is a virtual debit card
system. You purchase in increments of $10, $25, $50, or $100 and
enter a 16-digit PIN into the payment form of whichever Website
accepts the PaySafecard deposit. PaySafecards are sold through
retailers such as ePay, PriceRite, Randalls, and Tom Thumb.

Skrill

Formely known as MoneyBookers, Skrill, owned by PaySafe, is
an online payment processor service similar to Paypal. Although
not as well known as Paypal, Skrill supports 40 or more
international currencies. You make deposits directly to Skrill
from your bank account and withdraw money directly from Skrill
to your bank account. When making a deposit at a casino, look
for the Skrill option. Skrill allows you to create accounts for
free. There are some inconveniences involved in using Skrill, in
that the amount you can deposit per transaction is limited and
there may be a weekly or monthly limit imposed by the casino.
You will also have to wait for the transactions to complete,
which could take 2-3 business days.

Money Transfer

Western Union offers a service to merchants called QuickCash
where they can handle money transfers. Your online casino may be
part of the QuickCash network. You’ll have to contact them for
details if they offer this option. Another possibility is
DirectCash. Deposits are fast but the process is not as smooth
and simple as most of the options provided above.

Other USA Deposit Methods

Individual casinos may have other payment arrangements,
including the use of checks, other credit cards, money orders,
and even (sports) book to (sports) book transfer options. You
may see options, such as wire transfers, on some sites but don’t
assume these are available to US players.

Current USA Deposit Situation

The 2006 UIGEA forbids US banks from processing transactions
between online gambling sites and US players. State authorized
race tracks and casinos that offer online gambling options may
be able to accept ACH bank transfers.

The players are not held liable under the 2006 UIGEA for the
deposits they make to online casinos. The casinos take the
responsibility of managing their cash flow and player accounts.
To protect yourself we recommend you only join casinos that are
licensed under established gaming authorities and which operate
from countries that are known to regulate online gaming
carefully.

Although many players have traditionally accepted withdrawals
in the form of checks or bank transfers, the rise of digital
currencies has opened up a whole new vista of options for
players. The chief advantage of using digital currencies over
traditional banking transfers like checks and wire transfers is
that the fees tend to be smaller. These costs of course vary by
provider.

Non US Deposit Options

Some of the payment processing services listed as US friendly
above also work well for non-US players.

Conclusion

There have been other gambling deposit methods that have been
discontinued. You may still see reference to some of those
services on older websites. We have made every effort to verify
that this information is accurate and up to date. However, as
mentioned above we strongly recommend that you carefully review
the Cashier page on each online gambling site you join.

Because your individual circumstances are unique it is
impossible to recommend a single best deposit method. Not every
casino offers the same options. Worse, some of those options may
involve your providing significant financial information to the
casino via fax, phone, or email. These are insecure methods and
you should be wary of using them.

On the other hand, don’t expect to remain completely
anonymous. Even with the digital currencies you will have to
verify who you are at some point in the chain. The digital
currency exchanges, for example, must still comply with local
banking laws in order to withdraw and deposit funds to your bank
accounts.

Before committing your funds to an online casino you should
check for reviews of its banking practices. Pay close attention
to player disputes but don’t assume the casinos are always the
bad guys. You will come across situations where players
attempted to make deposits in violation of the terms and
conditions set down by the casinos. By and large you are
required to use your own financial resources to fund your online
gambling accounts. Using someone else’s banking or credit card
information is considered fraud in many if not all
jurisdictions.