Australian bookmakers' payment methods and deposit options at AU betting sites

Bookmaker deposit options

When it comes to betting sites in Australia, the choice is seemingly endless. There are plenty of legitimate, licensed, and reputable bookmakers that offer odds on many popular sports, including the AFL, rugby, soccer, tennis, cricket, F1, eSports, etc. Additionally, horse racing and greyhound racing are very popular in the land down under, so many bookmakers provide racebooks and allow their users to bet on some of the best races in the world.

Despite the presence of land-based bookies, more and more Aussies are turning to online betting. Recent studies conducted by the Second National Study of Interactive Gambling in Australia, funded by the Australian government body Gambling Research, showed that twice as many Australians now place their bets online when compared to in-person betting, and the growth has largely been due to the convenience of betting from wherever you are and the processing speeds by modern payment methods.

Faster internet speeds have made it much easier to register to a platform, find odds for the match or race you want to bet on, deposit money, and place a bet.

Thanks to modern technology, instant deposits are now a thing - and there’s no reason why you wouldn’t use them to your benefit. However, the question isn’t only whether to use online payments - but which payment methods to use - and this is when things get interesting.

Online bookmakers offer many options when it comes to making deposits, but they’re mainly divided into five categories: cards, e-wallets, bank transfers, virtual banks, and cryptocurrencies.

Debit/Credit Cards

Living in 2022, it’s almost impossible to find a person that doesn’t hold at least one debit/credit card. Be it a Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Diners, Maestro, or other cards - the largest part of adults (and even minors) in Australia hold some type of card.

Trying to make life easier for players, the majority of betting sites in Australia accept the most popular credit/debit cards - which, in most cases, are Visa and Mastercard. Although there’s a difference between credit, debit, and prepaid cards, they’re largely considered the same when it comes to making deposits at betting sites. As long as you have the amount you want to deposit on your card, you can use it to make bets.

All you need to do is:

1. Register as a new user
2. Click on the ‘Deposit’ button or visit the cashier
3. Choose the type of card you want to use
4. Type the card details, such as the name on the card, card number, expiry date and security code
5. Confirm the transaction

Despite the growing popularity of e-wallets, cards are still the most popular payment method in Australia - simply because they’re so easy to use. Deposits made using cars take seconds to complete, and you’ll have your money in your betting account in a few minutes.

Also, most legitimate and regulated betting sites offer high levels of security, such as 128-bit or 256-bit SSL encryption, which means that you shouldn’t worry that someone might get a hold of your card information.

E-Wallets

To say that e-wallets are popular in Australia would be an understatement. Although they’re nothing new, as some of the e-wallet payment options have been around for more than two decades (looking at you, PayPal), they’re one of the most widely used payment methods across the country - both for e-commerce purposes, shopping, and sports betting.

What makes them unique is the fact that they’re instant, easy to use, have low fees, and are a staple of the digital world. You can monitor all transactions in real-time, so you’ll know exactly how much money you’ve spent and keep track of all your transactions.

Most, if not all, e-wallets also have mobile apps that you can use to make payments and keep track of your money, and they’re generally much safer than paper money.

On top of that, some people are still scared to provide their sensitive card information to online bookmakers, so using an e-wallet adds another layer of safety. With that in mind, most Aussie bookmakers offer e-wallets as a part of their list of available payment methods.

Being one of the oldest e-wallets, PayPal is still the most popular digital wallet in Australia. In fact, statistics show that more than 88% of Australians used PayPal to pay for goods in 2021 - and the same notion translates to online betting. Setting up a PayPal account is extremely easy and straightforward, and you don’t even have to use a credit card to use it. Instead, you can link your bank account or checking account or top up your PayPal account using a prepaid account - which provides yet another level of security and anonymity.

Besides PayPal, there are dozens of other options that are available for depositing in Aussie bookmakers, including Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz, ApplePay, ZipPay, Google pay, NeoSurf, and others. They all offer the same perks and features more or less, so the choice usually comes to the fees imposed by the payment method, availability, reputability, and ease of use.

Nonetheless, depositing at a bookmaker using an e-wallet goes like this:

1. Register at the bookmaker
2. Click on the ‘Deposit’ button
3. From the list of available deposit methods, choose your preferred e-wallet
4. Enter your email address
5. Enter the amount of money you want to deposit
6. Confirm the transaction

Just like credit/debit cards, deposits made using e-wallets are almost instant - if not faster when compared to cards. When it comes to the fees, it all comes down to the method chosen and the bookmaker.

Virtual Banks & Bank Transfer

The good old bank transfer - (almost) gone but not forgotten. Although not as popular as it used to be in the early days of the iGaming and online sports betting industry, a bank transfer is still a payment method widely available in Australian bookmakers - especially when it comes to withdrawals. To add to that, there are virtual banks such as Poli, Instadebit, or Western Union that allow you to make online payments through your bank account.

Although users don’t prefer it as much as the other, more modern payment methods, bank transfer does come with some advantages - with the biggest one being security. Some punters prefer not to disclose their credit card information to the operator, but don’t want to use any of the other methods either, so they opt for bank transfers. It’s a simple transfer from one bank account to another - no hassle, no passwords to remember, or anything like that.

Moreover, some operators only allow for cashouts with bank transfers, so even if you used another method to deposit money, you may be instructed to withdraw using a bank transfer.

Cryptocurrencies

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few years, you probably know that cryptocurrencies are the hottest trend right now. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you hear people talking about best crypto sports betting sites and all the successful trades they’ve made.

Being the most modern of the bunch, using crypto to make payments at betting sites does come with a few advantages. First, cryptocurrencies are completely anonymous, so you won’t have to provide any sensitive information, such as your name, address, or phone number. Next, cryptocurrency transactions are truly instant - meaning there’s no delay to the transaction whatsoever. You’ll have your money the moment you press the confirmation button, which means you’ll be able to place your bet in seconds.

And last but not least, many bookmakers offer exclusive crypto bonuses for players that choose to use this payment method. Although not as widely available as credit/debit cards, popular cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are present in several bookmakers, both for deposits and withdrawals.