Top 5 Payment Methods Available at Australian Online Casinos

For a trouble-free online casino experience, you need a safe, reliable and convenient payment method. Fortunately, Australians have many payment options to choose from, and new ones are being constantly introduced. But with variety comes uncertainty and confusion. This article aims to make things as simple as possible – by narrowing down payment options at Australian online casinos to just five types.

1. Credit and Debit Cards – VISA, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express

What sets credit and debit cards apart is how familiar people are with them, and how much we’ve used them. They are very widely accepted as a payment method and generally work both quickly and reliably. There is also a sense of comfort when you perform an action that you’ve done many times without any issues. Overall, you don’t expect to run into troubles here.

But there is an obvious downside to credit and debit cards – also need to enter a long number when making online payments or have the card’s information stored on your browser, which is an unnecessary risk, especially if you have a lot of money on that card, which would be the case if you use it a lot.

So, you generally don’t want to give your credit card details to a shady platform. And even if you are willing to risk a few bucks to maybe get something you really want from someone you don’t trust that much, you can’t do that entirely safely with a credit card. And that is why there are other payment methods, providing additional safety where credit and debit cards can’t.

Not that we recommend dealing with shady platforms! But having an extra layer of security can’t hurt and it also protects you even from things like honest mistakes – which sometimes can even be your own errors. Operating under the assumption that everything will go perfectly isn’t among the safest strategies. It’s much wiser to be prepared for the possibility of trouble ahead.

2. Digital Wallets, Mobile Wallets, Virtual Banking and Prepaid Cards

The second type of payment methods are the ones that introduce a third party. It will receive money from your bank or credit card and will transfer funds to the online casino without sharing any of your personal information. These include Skrill, PayPal, Neteller, ecoPayz, Cick2Pay, Neosurf, UPay Card, PaySafeCard, Entropay, Poli, Instadebit, Western Union,  Revolut, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BPay. You can use all of them to deposit or withdraw funds from Australian online casinos.

Whether a “digital wallet” or a prepaid card, the idea is that you can’t possibly spend more money than what you’ve put in it, so any risk is minimized to that sum.

And no one can steal your information, if it isn’t disclosed anywhere along the way. So, you can transfer a reasonable amount of money to your digital wallet and make payments from there without having to worry about the safety of your bank account. Not that there is any need to put your money at risk, because there are plenty of licensed, safe, and reputable gaming sites.

Also, third party payment services can be cheaper and more convenient than traditional banking. Being able to do everything online eliminates the need to take into consideration things such as where offices are located, their working hours, the long queues in there, potential viruses, etc. You can access virtual banking services at any time, and anywhere.

3. Cryptocurrency – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, Ethereum

There are many benefits associated with using the payment methods described above. However, they are all constantly observed by centralized financial institutions. Transfers of cryptocurrency, on the other hand, don’t involve identifying the sender of the funds, so players at crypto casinos can benefit from enhanced privacy.

In addition to better privacy, crypto allows you to make big transactions without or with very small fees. Some casinos let you place bigger bets in Bitcoin than in dollars. So, why doesn’t everyone use this payment method? Well, due to fluctuations in the value of cryptocurrencies, many people have been reluctant to adopt them and that makes them less universal.

4. Phone Bill

This is one of the newer developments – there are services that let you play at online casinos and pay later through your phone bill. This is an extremely easy way to make a small bet that isn’t meant to be a big deal, similarly to buying a lottery ticket. This type of payment method isn’t fit for betting big money, but most players aren’t trying to bet big money anyway.

Gambling sites offering this payment option are referred to as “pay by phone” casinos. Playing via phone is associated primarily with convenience, so it’s natural that players would want to use the most convenient possible payment method in that context. And you get to both play and keep your money – until your next phone bill that is.

5. Direct Bank Transfers

Direct bank transfers send money straight from your bank to the online casino. It is a traditional method, but it is still popular to this day, and many gaming sites accept bank transfers as a payment method. Because this option is so simple, it usually doesn’t involve additional fees, and that is the main reason for its popularity.

And you could set up your own “gaming wallet” by opening a separate bank account where you can transfer money from your main account, and then make direct bank transfers from that special account to the online casino. In that way, you can avoid the risk of spending more money on gambling than what is reasonable.

Since online casinos recommended by expert casino reviewers are safe, choosing payment methods is a matter of personal preference and what you find to be most convenient for you. However, you could benefit from setting up a system for moving funds that prohibits you from spending more than you can afford. It is highly recommended that you approach this subject seriously, because lack of awareness and self-control often lead to gambling problems.