Credit Cards – Visa and MasterCard

The two most widely accepted and widely used credit cards in the world are Visa and MasterCard. They are accepted in most every country around the world, and in thousands of establishments, both online and in the real world. Most every reputable online casino accepts Visa and MasterCard as deposit options, although they aren’t generally used for withdrawing winnings from casino accounts.

Visa is the largest credit card company in the world. It holds nearly 40% of the United States credit card market, with more than $4 trillion in transactions handled every year. The company offers debit cards in addition to a range of credit cards, which can be used in most online casinos that accept Visa as a payment option.

MasterCard is the second largest credit card brand in the world after Visa. The company was established in 1966, and has since become a multinational cooperative affiliated with more than 25,000 financial institutions. It is also the second largest payment network in the United States, again superseded only by Visa. Like Visa, MasterCard is accepted by most established online casinos around the world.

In order to be able to use a Visa or MasterCard in an online casino, you will of course have to have a card. Eligibility for a credit card is dependent on a number of factors including:

• Ownership of another credit card
• Bank account history
• Credit rating
• Employment history

If this is your first time to apply for a credit card, you may initially be given the “standard” card, which has the lowest spending limit. This is usually sufficient for making deposits into online casino accounts, but you will likely want to have higher credit limits later on in order to make larger deposits.

Raising your credit limit can be done by keeping a good credit standing, which involves making regular payments and avoiding missed payments. Over time, your credit rating will increase, and you will eventually be offered the chance to upgrade to a higher level card which comes with higher credit limits.

When signing up for an online casino account, you will typically be asked to provide your credit card information. This is pretty standard with most casinos, although nothing is charged to your credit card as yet.

If you do wish to make a deposit into your casino account however, you will likely be asked to provide verification for your credit card. This ensures that you are indeed the owner of the card and that you will be able to make payments.

Because the funds used to make payments via credit card are provided to you “on credit”, there is no need to “pre-fund” a card before you can use it at an online casino. Instead, you will have to pay off the amount in installments over time.

There is usually no interest when using credit cards to make a deposit into an online casino account if you pay off the outstanding balance every month. In general, you will want to pay as much as you can afford in installments, instead of simply making the minimum monthly payments. This will enable you to pay off your debt much sooner.

Making a deposit into an online casino account via credit card is usually a simple process. For Visa cardholders, the process involves the following steps:

1. Go the “cashier” section of the casino and click on the “deposit/payment” button.
2. Select “Visa” from the list of supported banking methods.
3. Upon prompting, enter the 16-digit Visa card number, expiration date, your name as it appears on the card, and the CVV number. This is the sequence of three numbers printed at the back of your card.
4. Enter the amount you wish to deposit.

In most cases, casinos will process your payment directly at this point. If this is your first time to use your Visa card at the particular casino however, you may have to verify your Visa card account via an additional step. This typically involves providing additional log-in details and answering a security question. After you have verified your Visa account, you will usually be able to make deposits without the need for verification in the future.

Making a deposit via MasterCard is done pretty much the same way:

1. Go the “cashier” section of the casino and click on the “deposit/payment” button.
2. Select “MasterCard” from the list of supported banking methods.
3. Upon prompting, enter your MasterCard card number, expiration date, your name as it appears on the card, and the CVV number.
4. Enter the amount you wish to deposit.

As convenient as credit cards are for making deposits, they aren’t exactly the best options for making withdrawals from online casinos. Most casinos will not allow such transactions at all, so you may have to use an e-wallet (if you have one), or request a bank wire transfer or check.

If you do have the option to withdraw your winnings via credit card, you may be charged a fee of 2% to 8% of the withdrawn amount by your credit card company.

Depositing Rands into an online casino account via Visa does not entail additional bank charges. Most casinos that accept Visa will also not charge you for using Visa to make deposits into your casino account. Depending on your bank however, you may be charged a monthly interest rate on balances carried forward.

This is also the case when making deposits into an online casino account using MasterCard. When withdrawing winnings and bonuses via MasterCard however, you will typically be charged a fee from 2% to 8% of the amount you wish to withdraw.

Deposits via credit cards aren’t as fast as deposits made via e-wallets, but they are usually faster than bank transfers. In most cases, the money will be available in your player account within a few hours.

Unlike credit card deposits, withdrawals via credit cards will usually take a few days to process. In addition, you may be required to send in a fax back form if you opt to withdraw your winnings via Visa or MasterCard.