There are plenty of online articles telling you how to sign up with an online sportsbook. Since gambling laws started to ease a few years ago, there have been more and more regions where people can legally bet on sports online. But there is one aspect of betting that is sometimes overlooked in these kinds of guides.
Which payment method you use may not seem like the most exciting question to ask when it comes to sports betting. But it is crucial to how you expect to deposit and withdraw funds.
Most sportsbooks offer a wide variety of payment options these days. There are sportsbooks that accept Bitcoin – and betting sites with PayPal allowances. So we’ve put together a guide to the different methods to help you decide.
1. Debit and Credit Cards
These are the most popular payment methods in many countries, allowing customer account holders to link their bank accounts to their betting accounts. Most sportsbooks will accept Visa and MasterCard cards and the minimum and maximum limits are usually very attractive.
Sportsbooks also usually charge no fees for deposits using debit cards – and they qualify for any welcome promotions as well. The withdrawal times can be a little long though.
The other thing to note is that credit cards are not allowed as a payment method in the UK now – and that restriction could spread to other countries.
2. PayPal
This was the first popular e-wallet on the market and is well known even to people who don’t use the service. It was one of the first steps away from traditional banking as far as online sites go and – as a result – many online sportsbooks will allow PayPal as a payment method.
PayPal transactions tend to be much quicker than more traditional banking and that is always very attractive with online bettors.
It is popular and widely used, so there is no problem using it with a sportsbook. One downside of using it as a payment method with betting is that you will incur commission fees.
3. Cryptocurrencies
As with the rest of the world of business, the gambling industry has welcomed cryptocurrencies with open arms.
In fact, it could be argued that the betting world was an early adopter of accepting digital currencies as a payment method. Bitcoin is by far the most popular crypto – but there are others accepted by some sites.
The advantages of cryptocurrencies for betting are largely the same for using them in any sphere. They are secure and anonymous and many customers may feel as though using a decentralized service with blockchain technology is the way forward.
There is volatility in the markets to consider – and there is a worry that the process of using crypto could be too complicated for some newcomers.
4. Bank Transfer
From new school to old school. Even with all the advancements in payment technology over the last few years, there are lots of people who still prefer to put their trust in banks. Bank transfers are very secure and very simple to complete, cutting out any middlemen in the process.
One attraction for online bettors is that many sportsbooks have very large maximum amount limits for bank transfers.
So if you are something of a high roller, this may be the payment method for you. A problem with that is that there are sometimes very high minimum amount deposit limits too.
5. Google Pay and Apple Pay
Whether you have an Android or an iOS mobile device you are still covered by many online betting sites with your payment options. Contactless payments have also become very popular in recent years.
Google Pay (for Android) and Apple Pay (for Apple products) are very easy to set up and have a good deal of extra security compared to some other options.
There are usually no extra fees needed and the speed of the transactions is very attractive to users too. There is a big problem with both of these methods though.
You cannot use them to withdraw funds and many customers will be put off having to use one payment method to deposit and another to take out their winnings.
