If you’re read our guide to the various deposit methods available at online casinos, you’ll
know there are four main ways of handing over your funds to the venue of your choice. We’ve already talked about credit and debit cards, there’s Prepaid cards, digital wallets and this post is about the good old bank transfer. Once upon a time you had to go to your local bank, fill in some forms and wait for several days before the transaction was complete – now if you have a reliable internet connection you don’t need to leave the house.
Because of the international nature of many online casinos, you may often find yourself transferring money abroad. This type of arrangement has been around since 1974 when a group of international banks got together to devise a way to make the previously laborious process easier. This resulted in the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) and we now refer to the codes allotted to banks and accounts as SWIFT codes. In Europe the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is also used.
The main advantage of a bank transfer is its trustworthyness and reliability. It is extremely rare for a transfer to go wrong. As we mentioned previously, if you have a reliable internet connection, there’s no need event to step away from your computer to initiate the transfer.
Disadvantages? There’s a couple – firstly it can be expensive, depending on what country you’re transferring from and to. Following legislation covering Europe, Europeans can transfer money within the European Union for the price of a national transfer. This means it’s free or very cheap. Americans tend to be worse off – it’s not uncommon for one transaction to cost up to $50 which makes it unsuitable for all but the largest transfers.
The second disadvantage is the length of time it can take. A few days to complete is not unusual and of course if you’re desperate to play right now this may not be the method for you. So the choice is yours, very reliable but you need some patience.
