Why debit cards dominate at online casinos

Comparasino talks to Guido Klein, Head of Payments at L&L Europe, the company behind All British Casino, to find out why so many players use debit cards at online casinos.

The vast majority of online casino players in the UK deposit and withdraw using debit cards such as Visa and Mastercard. But why are debit cards so popular and are they really the best option? 

Guido Klein, Head of Payments at L&L Europe, the operator behind popular brands such as All British Casino and Pub Casino, says the popularity of a particular payment method is based on its “availability and convenience” and Visa and Mastercard offer plenty of both. 

They dominate the debit card space in the UK and provide an easy way of transferring funds from your bank account to your online casino account. In addition, they’ve been around for decades and are trusted by consumers. 

But that doesn’t necessarily make them the best payment method you can use at casino sites.

“Visa and Mastercard are ubiquitous today primarily due to their early market entry, not necessarily because they are the best options available,” Guido tells Comparasino. 

“New payment methods must offer something unique or invest heavily in marketing and even then it can take decades to establish a strong presence,” he adds. 

Some payment companies have done this and are growing in popularity among players in the UK. PayPal, Apple Pay and even Trustly come to mind here. But before looking at these methods in more detail, Guido is keen to explain some of the upsides to debit cards. 

“The biggest advantage of debit cards is the speed of deposits and withdrawals. When it comes to card deposits, we offer tokenisation across all our brands which means customers only need to enter their card details once and can make use of single-click deposits thereafter. 

“Regarding withdrawals, assuming there are no outstanding verification requests, most transactions are processed automatically with Visa withdrawals typically arriving within two to three minutes while Mastercard payouts usually arrive within 24 hours.” 

Fast payouts are one of the reasons why digital wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, PayPal and MuchBetter have become popular in recent years. But if you look at the cashier at most online casinos, you tend to find just one or two wallets available. 

With casinos claiming to do all they can to offer the best possible experience to their players, why do they not stock all digital wallets in the cashier? 

Guido says this is because adding new payments to the cashier is a long process and there are also “significant ongoing costs associated with monitoring and operating them” which means casinos need to be mindful about which wallets they add. 

“We spend quite some time evaluating the potential demand before onboarding a new digital wallet or payment provider,” Guido continues. “This includes market research, understanding player preferences and analysing transactions to ensure there is sufficient demand.” 

In addition, L&L Europe also considers things like security features, how easy it is to add the payment method to the cashier, the user experience provided and whether it is compliant with the regulatory requirements in place. 

When it comes to digital wallets, PayPal is by far the most popular in the UK – Guido says this is because of its strong USPs and consistent marketing efforts. Players also like the fact it provides instant deposits and payouts, and that their details can be anonymised. 

“PayPal has established a significant user base, particularly among Millennials who are increasingly its largest user demographic,” he adds. 

Trustly has also found favour with UK casino players. It’s different to PayPal in that it’s not a traditional digital wallet. 

Instead, Trustly provides an expedited method for facilitating bank transfers, allowing players to make direct payments from their bank account without the need for a digital wallet. This helps to speed up transactions, allowing for instant deposits and withdrawals. 

“Trustly is increasingly popular among users looking for alternatives to e-wallets,” Guido says, “but it’s still too early to tell if it will become a dominant player for bank payment moving forward.” Still, at Comparasino, we see plenty of players searching for Trustly casinos. 

We have also seen a lot of players looking for Apple Pay casinos, but only a handful of online casinos offer it as a payment method. Guido says this is because it “rarely pays to be an early adopter” of a payment option when it first hits the market. 

But Apple Pay has been around for a while now and L&L Europe offers it at All British Casino and its sister sites including Pub Casino, Yeti Casino, Casino Casino, Hyper Casino, Yako Casino and Fun Casino. 

“In the not-too-distant future, we will likely add Google Pay as well,” Guido tells Comparasino. 

As with everything related to online casino, things change fast, often driven by new technologies. So what impact will this have on payments? 

Guido shares his thoughts… 

“In the coming years, the landscape of online casino payments will undergo a significant transformation. While debit cards have historically been a dominant payment method, emerging trends suggest a shift towards diversified and technologically advanced options. 

“Bank payments for example are just being integrated with various know your customer and responsible gambling measures which will provide customers with a more seamless experience by combining payments with various regulatory requirements.” 

By this, Guido means that you will be able to use your bank information as part of the sign-up process, reducing the information and documents you need to provide directly to the casino. So a smoother, faster route for registration and depositing. 

Indeed, this is now being offered by companies such as TrueLayer and its Signup+ technology which lets you deposit and play in less than 60 seconds.

Guido also says that crypto is an exciting space that will undoubtedly combine with online casinos in the UK. 

“For some casinos, crypto will likely play an increasingly important role although in more heavily regulated markets, such as the UK, crypto will likely remain a niche phenomenon for the time being at least.”