When playing at online casinos you’ll find that you’re presented with a number of payment options when making your deposits and withdrawals. But when it comes to paying and playing at online casinos, not all methods are created equal.
Here we’ll take a look at some of the popular payment solutions as well as their pros and cons, so that you can make the best choice for you when it comes to making your next online casino deposit or withdrawal.
CREDIT CARDS
Credit Cards are probably the most “familiar” way for most players to pay online, this comes with both pros and cons. The advantages include convenience and ease of processing when making a deposit, as well as the fact that if your credit card is linked to some kind of loyalty rewards program, you can earn points as you play.
The disadvantage however is that when using a Credit Card at an online casino when cashing out, you will generally be required to complete and produce documentation to prove that you are an actual person and that the card in question does belong to you. You will therefore generally need to send a copy of your passport or identity document as well as the back and front of the card to the casino’s support team for verification before your funds are released. This can significantly delay your cashout and some players find this procedure annoying. Ultimately though it goes a long way to ensuring your security, but still, it does take time.
Another disadvantage of using a Credit Card is that it can be tempting to keep playing on “the banks money”, especially when you’re chasing losses and trying to even out your player account balance. Obviously this is never a good idea, but the reality is that having credit on hand can be very tempting, so you really need to set strict deposit limits or use a card with lower limits when gaming.
VIRTUAL WALLETS & PRE-PAID CARDS
In addition to Credit Card payment options, online casinos generally offer a number of virtual wallets and pre-paid solutions including Skrill, NETELLER, PayPal, UKash, EziPay, ClickandBuy and Entropay to name a few.
Probably the single greatest advantage of using these options is that they provide a single point of registration for your Credit Card which is then used to fund the eWallet or pre-paid card of your choice. You can then make as many transactions at the online casino/s of your choice without needing to send proof of identity and statements (bank, electricity, card statement etc) repeatedly, you simply provide these once to NETELLER or Skrill and can happily transact from thereon out without any hassles and admin.
Not only are these solutions quick and easy to use, but processing is generally very easy for both deposits and withdrawals when playing online, as such online casinos offer special additional match deposit bonuses when you use selected methods. Another advantage is that they are completely safe and secure and because many of these can be pre-funded, you can’t over-spend and go into the negative like you can when using a Credit card.
While pre-paid cards don’t have any obvious disadvantages, e-Wallets have just one and that is vulnerability to hacking. So you need to be exceptionally careful where you use them, and as such should only do so at reputable online casinos offering state-of-the-art encryption to keep your money safe.
As you can see from the above discussion, the payment option that you select is important when playing online, so make an informed decision.