The Ultimate Guide to Online Casino Banking for Newbies

Hello Frugal Gambler newbie and welcome to our guide about online casino banking!  While a lot of casinos support traditional bank accounts, there are also some that don't.  These casinos use a variety of different payment methods and we'll help you get your money in-and-out of the casino as smoothly as possible. 

Online Casino Banking For Newbies

Now I know what some of you are thinking; I already have a bank account, so why should I open a new one?  There are a few reasons for that, the first is privacy.  By using dedicated accounts, should they get hacked or compromised, you've protected your primary accounts from running into any problems.  It's just good practice to keep your primary funds separate from your fun money.  The second is that you have to make transfers to these accounts and don't have access to large sums of money through these.  They are for stacking your winnings and for limited coupon churning.  Third is it keeps things nice and organized.  The only transactions you'll see in these accounts are related to casinos, so you can keep a better eye on your winnings for all related purposes like taxes.  And the last reason is a few of these companies give you bonuses for signing up, which gives you more free money to use at the casinos and a better chance to hit withdrawal minimums. There are four different categories of accounts: traditional banking, Paypal/Venmo, Skrill and Crypto currency.  If you want to play across the biggest array of casinos so you can collect the most dailies, you will probably need to have all four of these accounts.  You might be able to get by without PayPal/Venmo, but you'll definitely need the other three.  Let's break these down so you can make smart, frugal choices. 

Traditional Banks

   We all know what a traditional bank is so we won't get into that.  You have checking accounts, savings accounts and credit cards.  Up front, I will tell you do not use credit cards for Frugal Gambling since you will be charged interest.  Stick to checking accounts with debit cards.  Traditional banks are the most widely supported by online casinos, however the transaction times can be slower than options like Skrill and Crypto.  You'll often have to wait 3-7 days for withdrawals to hit your account using a checking account or debit card but it will vary from casino to casino.  To earn the bonuses available with checking accounts, it needs to be your first account with that bank.  So if you already have an account with one of the companies below, use a different one for your casinos to benefit from the signup bonuses. 

This is my top pick and it's not really close.  I'm just going to say it, I love Sofi.  Their app is clean and simple to use, it lets you easily move funds to other accounts like investments, and it's hard to argue with $25 free dollars, which is exactly what Sofi gives you.  They don't charge any fees, they don't charge you overdraft fees and you have access to a network of 55,000 fee-free ATMs.  They also have an interesting tool called RoundUps which automatically rounds up your debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and deposits the rest in your savings account.  They also have a high-yield savings account you can qualify for, which has much higher interest rates than their competitors.  I've been using a dedicated Sofi account as my primary account for my casino grinding for over 2 years and I've never, not even once, had any problems with it.  They do what they say they are going to do very well and that's not as common as you'd think.

The second bank I recommend is Ally Bank.  I've been using them for a little over a year and while it's not quite as polished and feature rich as Sofi, it does all the basics well.  The welcome bonus isn't quite as attractive since you have to go through the process of setting up a direct deposit, but it's still a nice offer and if you're willing to spend a few minutes, $100 can be yours after 30 days.  You get access to a nation wide network of over 75,000 fee free ATMs and Ally will also reimburse you up to $10 quarterly from fees incurred by out of network ATMs.  Like with Sofi, there are no account fees at all. 

Skrill has been around for over 20 years but it has recently grown in popularity for a few reasons.  The first is it's great for international transfers and supports over 120 countries, often with very low or no fees at all.  Second, it's fast.  Transfers to and from Skrill are often completed in a matter of minutes which means you can get your earnings from casinos much quicker.  It's also the most widely accepted currency for online casinos, ahead of all other options including traditional banks.  Casinos like Crown Coins, Fortune Coins and Sweep Slots all support Skrill.  Once you make any deposit you'll be able to get a physical card that works at any ATM which allows you to withdraw money quickly.  I highly recommend getting a Skrill account as you start your Frugal Gambling adventure.   

Crypto Currency

Cryptocurrency is the fastest growing payment type accepted with online casinos.  This is mostly due to it being a legal grey area and making it easier for them to operate, but it also allows people to withdrawal their money faster.  There are lots of options out there for wallets that will allow you to make transactions and we'll focus on the easiest to use. 

The OG of crypto wallets, Coinbase, is one of the easiest to use, while still being somewhat annoying.  With a crypto wallet you can't just withdraw bitcoin to a traditional bank account, you have to convert between a type of crypto currency (usually bitcoin) and USD first, then you can withdraw it.  It's basically an extra little annoying step.  On the plus side transactions are pretty fast, usually completing in about 5-10 minutes. After you make an initial purchase of $20 in a crypto currency, Coinbase will credit you with $30, which is a great way to build your bankroll.

It's strange to think of PayPal as an old company, but it's been around for over 25 years at this point, making it one of the oldest banking companies out there.  It started as the first peer to peer payments platform but has since expanded into every avenue you can think of.  Their interface is a bit bloated but it's an efficient way to move money.  They recently added the ability to send and receive crypto currencies which makes it an intriguing option if you want to limit the number of accounts you use. It's accepted by a few online casinos so I do recommend signing up with them but you can probably get by without it if you're a more casual Frugal Gambler. 

This covers everything you need to know about payments and redemptions to online casinos. Once you have your accounts setup, you are ready to start your journey as a frugal gambler and start signing up with casinos and adding them to your money feed.  If you want help with any of this process feel free to join our discord server and we'll be happy to help!