The Best Gaming Payment Methods

With so many places online for you to spend money, there are different payment options available — and when it comes to playing at Jackpot Joy (when you’ve learned how to win at Bingo) on another online casino, there is plenty of choice for you to fund your account (and withdraw your winnings, of course).

If you are using a reputable online gaming site, your transactions will be encrypted and protected thanks to the licensing and regulating — so you can feel confident that your financial information will be safe.

Below, we will look at some of the most popular payment types so that you can choose which one is right for you.

Debit Card/Credit Card

If you make any online transactions already, whether for grocery shopping or when looking for new clothing, then you probably already use a card of some sort.

Debit cards are linked to your bank account and allows you to spend online like it is cash. Credit cards can also be used, depending on your credit limit.

Almost all online casinos and gaming operators accept debit and credit card deposits, so this is a simple way to fund your account and a place for you to receive withdrawals when you win.

Make sure that the card information that you share with the gaming site is kept secure — the top sites are both licensed and regulated, which means that they must meet certain standards when it comes to encryption and data security.

PayPal

PayPal is the most well-known version of an eWallet — an online storage place for your financial information. You can link your PayPal account to your debit and credit cards, and even to your bank account, and PayPal also offers credit options.

You can transfer money to your PayPal balance from multiple sources, and making payments using PayPal puts another layer of distance between your sensitive personal information and the merchant site.

You can use PayPal to both fund your gaming account on a casino site, and in almost all cases you can receive withdrawals directly to your PayPal balance.

Other eWallets are available, like Skrill and Neteller — but not all gaming sites accept them.

Bank Transfer

Bank transfers are essentially depositing and withdrawing funds directly to (or from) your bank account.

This is a relatively safe way of funding your gaming account, but it is less popular than using a debit or credit card, or even an eWallet — because it usually takes quite a long time for the funds to clear.

Bank transfers (also known as wire transfers) can take 3-5 working days to complete, so if you want to get access to those funds quickly, it might not be the right answer, despite being widely available.

Prepaid Card

There are some other closed-circuit options available, especially if you want to limit the exposure you have to the risk of fraud and hackers.

A prepaid debit card can be preloaded with a certain amount of money, and then used in the same way as a debit card — for online purchases, buying pizza, going shopping, or for loading finds into your gaming account.

You’ll have to share the card number with the site, but because it is closed off from your bank account or any specific personalised financial information, which makes it safer and less risky.

Gift cards can work in the same way.

Cryptocurrency?

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have heard about cryptocurrency — and this relatively new digital currency is becoming more widely offered as payment options in the virtual world.

However, there are limited places where you can use it, and while the decentralised nature of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin removes some of the risk of problems like hacking, it is still perhaps not the safest option.

When it comes to gaming sites, you are not likely to find crypto as an option for payment because it is so unregulated.

Keep Safe When Gaming Online

Whatever payment method you are choosing to use when you are funding your gaming account, the most important thing is to make sure that you are doing all you can to keep your financial information safe. Here are some tips that will help:

• Make sure the site is regulated and licensed to serve customers in your country. In the UK, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) is responsible for ensuring casino sites and gaming operators uphold security and fair play regulations.

• Check for safety in the online site. You can look for the padlock symbol in the address line of your browser, which denotes that the site is encrypted.

• Take extra steps to protect your account on the gaming site. Whether that is setting up two-factor authentication or using biometric access (fingerprints or face recognition).

• Don’t store card details on the site — this might make it faster to transfer funds, but not necessarily safer.