Casino Movement

Electronic payment options were initially introduced by organizations like Neteller and PayPal that had a global customer base. At that time only a global customer base was large enough to provide the economies of scale required. Online gambling has since then grown by leaps and bounds and today each country or a localized area can provide sufficient numbers to make a local electronic payment option viable.

This has seen the growth of several electronic payment options in the different countries in Europe, where people speak different languages. Local electronic payment service providers are able to offer customer support and other services in the local languages and this is a major reason for players preferring them. Germany, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, Poland and Russia are some of the countries where local electronic payment service providers are regularly used to fund online casino accounts. This article discusses some of the more prominent of these service providers.

iDEAL is an electronic banking option popular in the Netherlands. Players who have online banking accounts with ABN AMRO, Fortis, Postbank, Rabobank or SNS Bank can use iDEAL for funding online casinos without having to register at iDEAL or open an account with them. Players can also use e-wallets, telephone banking, bank drafts and cash deposited at their local banks in order to fund their iDEAL accounts. Many online casinos offer alternative payment method bonuses to players using iDEAL deposit option. iDEAL carries out transactions in US dollars, British pounds and euros.

Przelewy24 is a recently introduced payment option for online casino players from Poland. Presently funding this online account is possible only through 18 of the main banks in Poland. The account can also be funded through major credit cards and Moneybookers. The online casino accounts are credited within 15 minutes of the instruction to transfer funds. Przelewy24 carries out transactions in US dollars, British pounds and euros.

Moneta.ru is a convenient and secure Russian e-wallet. The account can be funded through a bank transfer, but that can take up to 5 days. Therefore Russian payment methods such as Yandex, Webmoney and RBK Money are recommended. The advantage of using Moneta.ru as a deposit option is that it allows online casinos to remit withdrawals.

Sofortuberweisung is an online deposit option that allows players to fund online casino accounts directly from bank accounts. It is powered by Fast Bank Transfer and is functional in Germany and Austria. Players need not register in order to make a payment but some online formalities need to be completed. The main disadvantages of this option are that it does not accept withdrawals and transacts only in euros.

Moneybookers is one of the largest electronic payment service providers. It has a global reach. Yet Moneybookers has understood the value of local electronic payment service providers. Therefore as a policy Moneybookers has tied up with several local companies in their respective countries. This system gives players the advantages of economies of scale and financial strength of large international companies as well as personalized support in local languages that can be provided only by small local companies. In Germany Moneybookers has tied up with giropay, in Finland and Sweden with Nordea, in Australia with Poli, in Singapore with eNETS and in Denmark with Dankort.

Prepaid cards are one of the latest options that can be used to fund online casino accounts. They are fast gaining in popularity and more and more online casinos are allowing the use of prepaid cards. The reason for this is that prepaid cards exhibit all the advantages of credit card and at the same time counter the major disadvantages of credit cards.

Prepaid cards operate the same way as credit cards do. They have a unique string of numbers that are keyed in at the Cashier section of the online casino in order to transfer the funds. Players have to log into their casino account and go to the Cashier section. There they choose the appropriate prepaid card option and entered the number code. The transfer of funds is instantaneous as in the case of credit cards.

Credit card transactions are often rejected because the player has exceeded the limit allowed to him by the credit card company or for some other default. This problem cannot occur with prepaid cards. In the case of prepaid cards the issuing organization already has the player’s money and therefore there is no reason for it to block the transaction.

Prepaid cards are much safer to use than credit cards or debit cards. Despite all precautions taken by online casinos credit cards and debit cards can be subject to identity theft. Unscrupulous hackers have a motive in stealing credit card information because they can then use the credit available in the credit cards to make purchases. Similarly they can use the balance available in the debit cards to make purchases. However, the prepaid cards are issued for fixed amounts. The moment the player enters the prepaid card number at the online casino the entire amount gets transferred to the player’s casino account. Therefore there is nothing left to steal and the prepaid card number is meaningless. Prepaid cards are not linked to the player’s bank account number or to any other sensitive information. Hence players are totally at ease when entering prepaid card numbers at the online casinos.

Most prepaid cards can be purchased at retail outlets for cash. Hence the player is not required to use a bank account at all. In the case of credit cards the payment is usually done through a bank account. E-wallets are commonly funded using bank accounts or credit cards. In all these cases there is an ultimate documentation of having made a payment to online casinos. This is totally avoided when prepaid cards are purchased for cash. Hence players who want to avoid documentation of their online casino funding transactions find it very convenient to use prepaid cards.

Prepaid cards are an important tool in the prevention of problem gambling. Players can purchase prepaid cards for exactly the amount that they can afford to spend at online casinos. Once that amount is transferred to the online casino account the prepaid card becomes useless. No matter how great the temptation to continue wagering may be, the player cannot use the same prepaid card again. The player has to go through the process of purchasing another prepaid card and this acts as a brake. In the case of credit cards it is much easier to give into temptation and transfer more funds and thus take the first step to problem gambling.

Prepaid cards are very common in the United States where they have a further advantage. Because of the UIGEA the organized financial services system is wary of transferring funds to online casinos. Prepaid cards purchased using cash enable the player to bypass the organized financial services providers.

Many players will be delighted about Paypal’s offering its service to online gamblers, although this presently excludes United States residents.

The change of policy has started off primarily in the UK market though numerous big UK based online gambling operators offering Paypal. Paypal allows instant transfers from credit cards and bank accounts to the merchant’s website.

There is currently a lot of speculation that Paypal is getting ready to once again enter the US the market, should attempts to repeal the UIGEA be successful, but this is likely to just remain rumors.

There has also been some speculation that Google is keen to once again allow paid online gambling ads.

Paypal recently started to process payments for 32Red, a public UK online gambling company who exclude US residents.

Time will tell whether this is the start of a possible removal of Paypal’s online gambling exclusion in the US.