There are many online casino deposit options but choose carefully

The internet has greatly enhanced the lives of many people in Ireland, either through the job opportunities it has created or simply because it has made many of the everyday tasks we need to do much easier. There are however potential problems associated with using the internet, many of which we are constantly reminded about in our daily newspapers and televised news. Clearly we have all read about the allegations recently levelled at Russia regarding hacking of e-mails and the spreading of false news to influence elections in other countries, but serious as those allegations are they do not directly affect the lives of us as individuals living in those countries. The problems and risks we face may not be on such a scale, but they are nevertheless just as real and potentially even more damaging. All the banks and most of the large internet trading companies use fairly sophisticated security systems to protect our personal information from theft and fraud, but we as individuals also have a responsibility to do all we can to protect our identity and behave sensibly when conducting financial transactions online. As far as we are concerned here at onlinecasino,ie it is of course our relationship with the online casino operators which interests us most because if we want to enjoy playing their casino games we have no choice but to deposit money into our online casino account. The important thing is to ensure that we carefully consider the pros and cons of all the deposit options offered by the online casino operators before we choose which of them offers greatest security and privacy. This is of course exactly what most of us automatically do when purchasing goods or services online, but the answer will almost certainly be different. There is also a cost element to be considered when considering which of the online casino deposit options to choose, as we will explain later in this article.

Before we go on to consider the most common deposit options used by online casino customers, we should highlight an excellent option which is available to Irish casino games players but not that well known. Paddy Power and Ladbrokes both operate excellent online casinos as part of their larger online sports gambling sites, and they also have an extensive chain of betting shops in Ireland where their online customers can manage their accounts using cash. Clearly managing an online casino account using cash is by far the most secure deposit option because no personal banking details need to be provided, but although it is the best deposit option it is not always convenient even for those of us who live relatively close to one of their shops. There is however another way to use cash to fund playing casino games online and that is to use a pre-loaded card such as Paysafe or Ucash. One or both of these pre-loaded cards are accepted by most online casinos, and they operate in the same way as pre-loaded currency cards which many people use when travelling abroad. You simply transfer cash from your bank account onto the card and use it as you would a debit card. The difference is that the online casino operator does not have access to your banking details.

We have already commented that when we are purchasing goods and services online most of us choose to use a credit card, and there are very good reasons for doing so not least the insurance element of using a credit card if the product or service proves unsatisfactory or fails to be delivered. Using a credit card as an online casino deposit option is however probably one of the worst choices we could make. Not only is the insurance element of using a credit card totally irrelevant when it comes to funding playing casino games, but the bank issuing the credit card will also apply a surcharge of up to 2% on any credit card transaction associated with gambling. Even if we think that the banks may be overstepping the mark with such a high surcharge, there is no doubt that gambling with borrowed money is never a good idea and that is what using a credit card as a deposit option is effectively doing. If the surcharge is not enough to dissuade you from using a credit card as an online casino deposit option, you will also be charged interest on the transaction from day one because the bank will treat it as a cash withdrawal in the same way as withdrawing cash from an ATM. All of us who enjoy playing casino games know that there is a good chance we may lose, but choosing to start playing when you are already in the red makes no sense at all, particularly when there are much better and cheaper alternatives. At this stage we should also say that some banks treat using a debit card as an online casino deposit option in much the same way as a credit card in terms of a surcharge, although there are of course no interest charges because the money must be in the account.

If you can’t or don’t want to use cash as an online casino deposit option there is another excellent safe and secure method of funding playing your casino games, and that is to use an e-wallet account. If you do not recognise the description e-wallet, the most well-known e-wallet account is operated by PayPal. An e-wallet is basically a separate bank account which you can then use to fund your online casino account directly. In fact you can also use an e-wallet such as PayPal or Neteller for almost every other internet transaction as well as funding your casino games. This means that using an e-wallet also means that you significantly enhance your privacy because even your bank does not know what you are using that account for. You can choose a variety of methods to fund your e-wallet account and the online casinos or indeed any other online company have no access to your personal banking details and therefore you have much better security.