Is Paysafecard your ideal way to pay at online casinos?
Pros
- No need to share bank account or card details with your casino
- The amount of money you can lose by accident or fraud is limited to the denomination of the Paysafecard prepaid voucher
- Use the prepaid Paysafecard Mastercard to set and play within your budget with ease
Cons
- Some casinos will charge a small transaction fee for each deposit made using a Paysafecard
- The Paysafecard Mastercard charges fees for top-ups and ATM withdrawals
- You’ll have to visit a brick and mortar retailer to buy a physical Paysafecard
Paysafecard in a Nutshell
If it’s safety you’re after when you play at an online casino, then Paysafecard is an excellent choice for making casino deposits. The payment method is part of the Paysafe Group and was launched in Austria in 2000.
This prepaid card can be bought over the counter with cash, keeping your personal financial details on a need to know basis and making it easy to manage your spending. If you want to know more about this online payment method, then read on.
Paysafecard claims on its website that its payment method is as safe and secure as cash, and it’s hard to argue against that. When you buy a Paysafecard, it comes prepaid in one of five values, either £10, £25, £50, £75 or £100, meaning that there is no need for you to share your personal financial information with your chosen casino. Additionally, a Paysafecard can also be bought using cash, for those who prefer using traditional payment methods.
Given the benefits of a Paysafecard for the security-conscious, it’s no surprise that the payment method is available for use at thousands of different vendors, including online casinos. Once you buy your Paysafecard, you’ll also receive a 16-digit PIN which is used to activate the card. You can even use the Paysafecard app to monitor your balance and, therefore, manage your spending.
How to Use Paysafecard to Play at Online Casinos
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Compare our list of top Paysafecard casinos
As Paysafecard is now accepted by a large number of online casinos, you’re not limited for choice. Compare the various sites we have on offer and choose the one that best suits you.
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Sign Up to your favourite casino
Once you’ve made your decision, you’re going to want to register a casino account. That should be fairly easy to do, so just follow the link we have provided to the casino of your choice and complete the registration form. Don’t forget to opt-in for your welcome bonus!
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Buy your Paysafecard
Purchasing your Paysafecard should be very easy to do. You can use either the Paysafecard website or smartphone app to find the nearest vendor to you, or alternatively, you can buy the card directly through their website.
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Deposit your funds at your Paysafecard casino
The next step will be to make your first deposit. The cashier page of your chosen casino is the place to do this — simply select Paysafecard as your preferred deposit method and enter the 16-digit pin code on your Paysafecard voucher when prompted. Once that’s done, that should confirm the transaction.
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Start playing
Paysafecard transactions are processed instantly so you can get on with playing your favourite real money games straight away. Browse through your casino’s library, find the game for you and you should be away. It really is that simple!
Security
The key benefit to using a Paysafecard is the security it gives you. As a prepaid card, there is no need to share your financial information with your chosen casino. The card can also be bought using cash, so there’s no need to share that information with your Paysafecard vendor, either. As its website says, it really is the closest thing to paying with cash.
Paysafecard has also put in place safety measures that prevent your 16-digit PIN from being hacked, meaning the balance on your card cannot be altered. Even if your card is stolen or you’re a victim of fraud, you can easily freeze your Paysafecard account. This will stop your funds from being accessed by anyone, and you can even request a refund.
Paysafecard Prepaid Mastercard
Paysafecard also allows you to claim a Paysafecard Mastercard, which can be requested through your account. It’s a physical card that works just like any other Mastercard, but the key difference is that it can be topped up, meaning that it doesn’t expire once the balance is empty. What’s more, being able to top the card up before means it’s easier for you to set your own spending limits.
Fees
While the positives of a Paysafecard are clear to see, there are also some disadvantages that are worth understanding. For example, Paysafecard themselves charge no fees for using their service, but some casinos might. These are very common and will only be small percentage charges for each deposit, but they can really add up over time so we recommend you read the casino’s terms and conditions before you sign up.
The Paysafecard Mastercard will definitely come with transaction fees, however. To go along with the £8 annual cost of the Mastercard, you will also be charged a 4% top-up charge and 3% ATM withdrawal charge.
Withdrawals
Paysafecards make depositing your funds safe, secure and easy, but you won’t be able to withdraw those same funds using the payment method. As such, you will have to find a different payment method that will allow you to do this. You should also keep an eye out for which payment solutions your casino lets you use in this instance, as some will often limit you to bank transfers which can take up to 5 working days to process.
Paysafecard Welcome Bonuses
To some players, the quality of the welcome bonus is the most important factor when deciding on their next new casino. However, it’s not just the size of the bonus that you should consider, but also the wagering requirements that come attached to it. A matched deposit, for example, is one of the most common bonuses around, with ‘100% up to £100’ being a prime example of the offer. If a bonus comes with high wagering requirements that require you to spend way more than you were planning in order to withdraw your winnings, then the offer simply isn’t worth it. Nonetheless, choose wisely, and you can get a lot of value out of a matched deposit bonus.
Free spins are another very popular bonus available at Paysafecard online casinos. Reserved for slots lovers, they give bettors the opportunity to play for free on their favourite one-armed bandit games like Starburst or Book of Dead. While these too will likely come with bonus wagering requirements, they are also a great way to try out a new casino or site before you invest your own money into it.
What you may find, however, is that some casinos accept Paysafecard, but exclude Paysafecard users from their bonuses, meaning you can’t claim the welcome offer of a site you’ve just signed up to. This is a more frequent occurrence for e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller or PayPal, but it’s still something worth bearing in mind before you sign up to your next casino.
Paysafecard on Mobile Devices
Playing at your favourite casino is now easier than ever thanks to the improvements in mobile casino apps. Native apps are the pick of the bunch, giving you faster loading speeds as well as allowing you to customise the appearance of the app itself. Push notifications also keep you informed about the latest bonus offers and promotions as well as what new games have been added to the casino library.
What’s more, Paysafecard has an app all of its own which allows you to find your nearest Paysafecard vendor, check up on your balance, top up the balance of your Mastercard and even pay for transactions using the scan2pay feature.
Use a Paysafecard at a New Casino
The big names in the casino industry are often the ones that casino players will plump for when selecting their next casino, but some of the newer casino sites out there have a lot to offer. In order to stand out from the crowd, they can give out some of the most player-friendly bonuses around—including low wagering and no wagering bonuses—as well as incorporating some unique and exciting features into their websites.
Alternatives to Paysafecard
While Paysafecard is a safe and reliable way to pay for your online casino play, there are plenty of other payment options available that cater to a range of needs.
PayPal
PayPal is the most widely used e-wallet and it’s quite likely that you’ve used it yourself at some point. Deposits and withdrawals are processed in a matter of hours and each transaction is protected by state-of-the-art encryption software. What’s more, it’s totally free to sign up.
Following the UK Government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the UK Gambling Commission announced that credit cards are banned from online gambling. The ban also extends to using credit cards to gamble through e-wallets such as PayPal.
Skrill
Skrill is another incredibly popular e-wallet that’s been in business since 2001. Payments are safe, secure and fast, and the e-wallet is free to sign up to. You may run into issues when claiming your welcome package, however, as certain sites exclude Skrill from their offers.
Neteller
Neteller is another e-wallet payment solution that is being used the world over in a variety of different industries. There is even a Neteller prepaid card you can use, called the Net+, which works just like a debit card, but instead accesses the funds in your Neteller account. Trusted by millions and totally secure, there is a lot that Neteller has going for it. As with a lot of e-wallets, you will need to check the terms and conditions of a site just to make sure that it’s not excluded from any offers or promotions.
Boku
A payment method that is fast becoming popular is to pay by phone. Services like Boku allow you to add the costs of your casino play onto the end of your phone bill, with each transaction you make being verified by a text code sent to your phone.
You won’t be able to withdraw your funds using this method, however, and will have to use a different payment solution.
Sign Up to a Paysafecard Casino
Paysafecard really is one of the safest and most trustworthy payment methods out there, so if you’re interested in making the most of this prepaid card, all you have to do is compare our list of best Paysafecard casinos, sign up, deposit your funds and start playing!
Your Questions Answered
First and foremost, you won’t find a casino that is not fully licensed to operate in the UK on Compare.bet. All of our recommended casinos hold a licence from the UK Gambling Commission to ensure each transaction it processes is safe and each game it supplies is fair. What’s more, Paysafecard itself is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), ensuring that it is also safe and above board.
Absolutely. E-wallets like Skrill, Neteller and PayPal are usually the payment methods restricted from certain casino bonuses, but we would still recommend you study the terms and conditions of your chosen casino just in case they don’t allow the card to be used to claim their bonuses.
Sadly not. While it is possible to make Paysafecard deposits, the same can’t be said for withdrawals. As such, you will need to use a different withdrawal method – such as an e-wallet or debit card – to get your hands on your funds.
You can’t top-up a standard Paysafecard as they are single-use prepaid card. But if you sign up for a Paysafecard Mastercard, then you will be able to top-up your funds. You can track your balance on the Paysafecard app making it easier to track your spending and stay within your budget.
Paysafecard won’t charge you any transaction fees for using the payment method, but some casinos may do so it is a good idea to check out the terms and conditions before you play. You will be charged transaction fees for using your Paysafecard Mastercard, however, with a 4% top-up charge and a 3% ATM withdrawal charge left to pay.
