Payment Methods

Online Bingo, Slot & Casino Payment Methods

Several of the most popular ways to deposit at UK bingo, slot and casino sites are listed above, but there are quite a few others.

Credit Cards

If you’re hoping to use a credit card to deposit at any UK gambling site in 2024, you’re going to be disappointed. The UK Gambling Commission banned the use of credit cards, directly or indirectly, for any and all gambling transactions back in 2020, including things as seemingly innocuous as buying a raffle ticket at a school fair!  The ONLY exception is when you buy a lottery product along with your grocery shopping. The rationale behind the ban is simple; people should not be using borrowed money to gamble with.

As we shall see, the credit card ban has had a knock on effect on many other payment methods, because operators are required to ensure that they in turn are not being funded by credit card (that’s where the “indirectly” comes in).

Debit Cards

Debit cards are by far the most popular option among slot game players, mainly because there are no hidden fees and transactions are fast. So unlike other payment systems, you won’t be wrong-footed by the small print.

And as at UK bingo sites, they’re accepted by ALL slot operators. Indeed, a lot of them require you to use a debit card when registering as a means of verification. The debit card MUST be in your name and linked to your bank account. Try to use somebody else’s and you’ll be in breach of the terms and conditions.

Despite the general ease of use, there are a few shortcomings worth keeping in mind. To begin with, debit card withdrawals can take up to five days. A few slot game operators do offer the instant VISA Fast Funds Service (a stopwatch icon alongside your card number will indicate if this service has been activated). But in most cases, you’ll probably have to wait at least a couple of days before your winnings are credited to your account.

If your debit card is a Mastercard (most aren’t, they’re Visa) you may find that it can’t be used for withdrawals and in that case you will need a bank transfer which typically takes longer and may incur a processing fee.

Although debit cards are safe and secure, if there’s some sort of security breach, it might be difficult to deal with the fallout, especially if you use the same bank account for everyday expenses. The alternative is to set up a different account or use a prepaid debit card.

Prepaid Debit Cards

A prepaid debit card isn’t linked to a bank account and must be funded before it can be used to make a deposit. You can either do this at a shop by transferring cash or online, in which case you’ll need to transfer funds from your bank account. In terms of bankroll management they can be very handy because you’ve got a set amount of money at your disposal and there’s no risk of overspending.

Be sure to check the terms and conditions though!  It’s not always possible to withdraw funds using prepaid debit cards, and some sites exclude deposits made with prepaid cards from claiming deposit bonus offers.

Prepaid Vouchers

Prepaid vouchers are available at a good number of both established and new slot sites.  As with prepaid debit cards, you don’t need a bank account to fund them.  Paysafe and Neosurf are the best known prepaid voucher payment systems.

CashtoCode

CashtoCode enables you to deposit money (up to £250 for some online slot sites) without having to provide personal information or bank details. It’s a sort of back-to-front version of Paysafe in which you start your deposit off by generating a barcode at the cashier and then visit a retail outlet to confirm the transaction by handing over the cash.

Top Sites that Accept CashtoCode

E-Wallet Payment Services

E-Wallet payment services are extremely easy to use, particularly for players who use their mobile phones. Once you’ve set up an account, you provide your card details and can then make online payments with just your username and email address. While similar to prepaid platforms, they have one big advantage – any winnings you accrue can be transferred back to your wallet.  E-wallet withdrawals are usually quicker than debit card withdrawals and may even take effect instantaneously.

There are a couple of downsides to using these services though. As well as relatively high transaction fees, deposits made using E-Wallets are often excluded from bonus deals due to anti money laundering measures and bonus abuse prevention.

PayPal is the most widely used e-wallet in the UK and is accepted at thousands of websites outside the iGaming sphere as well as at many online casinos.

Neteller

Neteller is a Canadian payment system that’s been around since 1999. Once you’ve gone through the rigmarole of setting up an account and providing a photo ID copy, transactions are very straightforward, with deposits and withdrawals permitted albeit with fees attached to both. More often than not, limits are placed on the amount of funds you can withdraw. There also aren’t a huge amount of UK slot sites that accept Neteller these days, and the ones that do usually exclude Neteller transactions from promotions.

Skrill

Skrill has emerged as a major competitor to PayPal internationally thanks to a customer-base of more than 30 million users. Like the other E-Wallet services mentioned here, the main USP here is ease and convenience. After registering a Skrill account, you just need to link your bank account and you’ll be able to use the service without providing banking information. Sadly, it’s beset by the same problem that affects a lot of these services – organised, large scale bonus abuse.  That is why most UK casinos no longer accept Skrill at all.  If you manage to find one that still does, you’ll almost certainly find it excludes Skrill deposits from all bonuses and promotions.

E-Wallet Apps

E-Wallet apps are available on your mobile phone and make it easy to extract funds from a linked card for online purchases. In terms of online slot sites, Apple Pay is the most widely accepted even though it can only be used to make deposits. An app is available for PayPal as well, and then there’s MuchBetter which can only be used via the app.

 

Luxon

Luxon is a newish e-wallet app that allows for secure and instant mobile-based transactions. Like MuchBetter, there’s a good chance it will become more widely used in the not too distant future given that it doesn’t apply any fees to deposits or withdrawals.

Top Sites that Accept Luxon

 

Omni-Channel Payment Methods

There’s a lot of buzz at present about ‘omni-channel payment platforms’. Rough translation: a platform that allows you to use the same account and wallet to access a range of betting and gaming products from any device and any location, either online or off.  Interestingly the bingo industry, which you wouldn’t normally associate with cutting edge technology, has been a key driver of this trend. Mecca Bingo’s Cash Out In Club facility lets players collect their online winnings at a Mecca Club and conversely, they can transfer club winnings to their online account via a Mecca Max tablet (used to buy and play bingo tickets electronically).  Buzz Bingo have also introduced a player wallet that can be used online and offline.

Coral Connect

Coral Connect brings omni-channel technology to high street bookies. Coral Casino players who sign up are provided with a card and PIN.  Along with a supporting ID, this card can be used to make deposits and withdrawals from a Coral account at any of its UK betting outlets. Land-based punters can also open a Coral Connect account at an affiliated betting shop by depositing money, which in turn provides access to Coral Online. This can be performed without the need of a debit card although ID information is still required.

Operator Branded Prepaid Debit Cards

The Paddy Power CashCard+ is a good example of this (other big name operators have them too).  It’s a Paddy Power branded prepaid Mastercard; winnings are loaded on to the card and they can be withdrawn from an ATM or used to purchase goods on or offline.

Paddy Power also offer the Play Card which comes closer to being a full omni-channel solution.  Like Coral Connect, it lets players deposit to and withdraw from their online account in a Paddy Power shop.  You can also place a bet in store and use your Play Card contactlessly to charge it to your online account.

 

Other Payment Solutions

If you don’t like the sound of any of these deposit methods, direct bank transfers can be made at many online slot sites without you having to provide your card or bank information. Keep in mind though, that you’ll still be required to verify your age and identification before it’s possible to play the actual online slots or withdraw any winnings.  Secure direct transfer services are a growth area but because they are subject to financial regulation they are confined to specific countries; Trustly has been operating in the UK for some time and now some UK facing operators have also enabled Sofort (aka Pay Now with Klarna).  Not all of these services are fully regulated by the FCA, however – they are covered by a temporary post Brexit transitional arrangement.

Needless to say, Pay Later With Klarna is not allowed, and never will be allowed at UK gambling sites for the same reason that credit cards are not allowed.

Can I Use Cryptocurrencies?

There’s been plenty of hype about cryptocurrencies over the past couple of years, particular in regards to online slot payment methods. And it’s easy to see why they appeal to a lot of players. However, there are NO UK licensed bingo, slot or casino sites that accept any form of crypto now that the UK Gambling Commission has declared these “currencies” as ‘money’s worth’.

This means that any gambling site that serves UK players would have to acquire a licence which in turn means that it would have to rely on a licensed gaming platform – an impossible arrangement for true crypto sites looking to run provably fair blockchain casino games not based on a licensed RNG.

There’s no prospect, either, of any regular (non blockchain) casinos accepting cryptocurrency deposits and converting to GBP.  They would not be able to satisfy UK anti money laundering rules or carry out affordability checks as required by the Gambling Commission.  And then there’s the overall riskiness, volatility and illiquidity of cryptocurrencies.

While a couple of operators have flirted with UK crypto payments in the past, that was in a period of much laxer regulation before the licensing regime was brought onshore in 2014.  It seems very unlikely that crypto will be allowed as a deposit method at UK slot sites in the foreseeable future.

In the EU, however, change is on the way.  In April 2023 the landmark MiCA regulation (Markets in Crypto-Assets) was passed in the European Parliament and the necessary secondary legislation is expected to be in place for it to come into force in Summer 2024.  MiCA sets up a mandatory licensing regime for crypto operators across the bloc and the accompanying Transfer of Funds regulation requires them to identify their customers to combat money laundering.  So regulated crypto casinos in EU states could very well be on the horizon.