In the UK, it’s typical for casinos to accept bank transfers for both deposits and withdrawals. This mode of payment has been around for a while. However, very few players in the past actually used it since it took days for the transaction to be completed. But that’s all changed very recently.
Nowadays, it’s possible to transfer money to and from a casino much faster using your bank. In most cases, deposits are cleared instantly so you can start to play right away. If you manage to win some cash then withdrawals have also been significantly sped up. But how has this happened?
Table of Contents
How online casino bank transfers got a serious upgrade
UK banks have now widely adopted Faster Payments. This is an upgraded payment system that is able to complete bank transfer transactions in real-time. The recipient now often receives the money pretty much as soon as it’s sent.
Although this system was first launched in 2008, it’s taken a while for the UK banking system to fully integrate with it. But now pretty much everyone is hooked up. This means you can send and receive money via wire transfer in the UK in a matter of seconds.
Pretty much all online casinos in the UK have bank accounts that are linked to this Faster Payments system. So you can find an instant bank transfer casino in the UK very easily. You then just need to make a deposit by wire transfer – and the money will be available instantly. Previously, you might have needed to wait several days before the funds show up.
But perhaps the biggest benefit is when it comes to taking money out. British players absolutely hate slow withdrawal times. And wire transfer payouts used to take at least a couple of days to fully process. But that’s not the case now. Thanks to Faster Payments, players from the UK can have their winnings transferred to them immediately after the casino sends it.
Other benefits of using bank transfers at casinos
- Players are almost never charged a fee
- Casinos often allow you to deposit/withdraw smaller amounts than other payment methods
- Quick and easy (often just need to log in using online banking).
Why did casino wire transfers take so long before?
Before Faster Payments became available, UK banks used to rely on older technologies.
The most well-known of these is BACS. It’s an electronic payment system that transfers cash to another British bank account within 3 working days.
For non-urgent payments, this was fine. But when you need the cash to be processed quickly (such as with online casino deposits), it is not suitable at all. Players also weren’t massively keen on waiting that long for a withdrawal.
The next system is CHAPS. This has sped payments up to the point where cash is delivered on the same day. However, online banking transfers need to be made before 5 pm to guarantee same-day delivery. It’s also not available on weekends or public holidays.
For online casino deposits, CHAPS didn’t really solve the problem. That’s because a lot of players mainly gamble at the weekend. Anyone who does gamble on a weekday usually does so after 5 pm too. So very few players have been benefitting from same-day delivery using the CHAPS system.
But now, Faster Payments has changed all that. Not only are payments instant but it works with the most popular UK banks too. So it’s available to pretty much all UK players. Could it have a serious impact on usage?
Will bank transfer become the preferred British payment method?
A decent number of UK players have already made the switch to bank transfer. But what are the chances of it becoming the most dominant payment method in Great Britain? At the moment, there are still quite a few things to overcome before that has a chance of happening.
The clearest obstacle is the number of alternatives that are available. There are loads of other options that offer instant deposits and withdrawals – such as e-wallets like PayPal. Card payments are also becoming quicker too. And as most people prefer to pay by card then bank, this is a serious competitor.
Another major hurdle is how to change old opinions. Casino players think of wire transfers as the absolute last resort due to the previous slow processing times mentioned above. Informing them about Faster Payments and then convincing them to make a change is not going to happen overnight.
So for now, it’s unlikely that this will be groundbreaking. However, if further advances are made – such as the ability for players to complete online casino verification instantly using online banking – then this could be the silver bullet.
