There are lots of things to think about when you want to become a member of an online casino. One of the most important may not be the first thing that comes to mind. We’re talking about banking – specifically, the banking method you choose to use there.
Oftentimes, you’ll see familiar offers such as MasterCard and Visa – both credit and debit versions – along with online payment processors such as PayPal and Neteller. You can probably name some others too, including the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
But how many casinos have you encountered online today that offer Apple Pay? Depending on where you’ve been, you may not have found any. Conversely, you might have stumbled across one or two. Hold on, though – chances are this upcoming payment method could become more popular than ever in the coming months.
Is Apple Pay a good choice when making payments?
Yes – it makes it easy to pay for purchases both quickly and securely. While some online casinos already offer this method, others are catching up. But you can make payments using Apple Pay in numerous other locations too, including bricks and mortar stores around the country. If you went out shopping and left your wallet at home, you could still pay for your purchases if you had your iPhone with you. If you’ve set up your account to allow you to make Apple Pay purchases, you’re good to go.
The system is designed to let you make cashless purchases anywhere you see the Apple Pay sign. Look out for it – you will notice it is popping up in more places than ever. You might be familiar with tapping a debit card to the reader in a store to make an instant payment. Apple Pay is similar, except there is no upper limit on how much you can spend in such a transaction. You might wonder if that is secure; well, if you have Touch ID set up on your phone, only your fingerprint will unlock it to permit the purchase to be made.
How is the payment made when using Apple Pay?
The idea is that you need to connect a credit or debit card to your Apple Pay account. You should already have your Apple ID that permits access to your iCloud account. If you want to use Apple Pay, you should log into your account and go into the wallet section. You will see you can add a card payment method to it. Go through the steps to add it and wait for your application to be reviewed. Your card issuer will do this for security purposes prior to allowing you to use Apple Pay. They may approve it quickly, or they could ask for further details from you before they say yes. This is just to confirm your identity, so your account and card details are secure.
Once everything is set up, the card you have added will be debited every time you make a payment using your smartphone via Apple Pay.
How are these payments made? What do you have to do?
Remember when making a quick payment by tapping a card to the screen was new? That probably felt odd to start with. Now, you probably don’t think about it. The same applies when you start using Apple Pay. Instead of tapping a card to the screen, you unlock your iPhone using the Touch ID feature. You then hold the phone near the reader until you see the confirmation message. This tells you the transaction has been completed, so you can lock your phone and put it away. It’s all done. Easy!
It’s possible to connect several payment cards to your Apple Pay account. If you have done this, you will need to select which one you want to use prior to making payment. Again, this is easy. Instead of activating Touch ID, just hold your iPhone close to the reader. You will then see a message asking you which card you want to use. Make your choice and then go through the usual steps to confirm your purchase.
How do you know whether an online casino is accepting Apple Pay?
Look for their logo on every online casino website you visit. There are only a handful of casinos offering this payment method at present, but we expect this number to rise soon. You will usually see the payment logos of accepted methods presented at the bottom of each page.
Every online casino will also have a banking page. So, if you don’t see those logos, check the banking page to confirm whether they are offering Apple Pay yet or not.
The advantages of using Apple Pay at online casinos
You’ve probably noticed than whenever you pay by this method you do not share any of your payment information with the vendor. They will receive your payment and know that it came via Apple Pay. Other than that, everything else is secure. So, while it might feel strange using your phone to make a payment (or in this case a deposit), it’s very safe to do so when it is properly set up.
Another advantage is that it is very quick to make your deposit. When you have completed the process, your deposit will be available in your casino account from that very second. You’re ready to play whichever games you want to try your luck with. No delays and no hassle – just the way you want it to be.
There was a time when adding Bitcoin to a list of payment processors at an online casino was a brave thing to do. Now, it seems like every casino has it on offer – or at least most of them. We expect things to follow the same pattern with Apple Pay as well. As more players cotton on to how convenient this method is, we think more casinos will offer it. It makes sense to make life as easy as possible for their customers.
Making a casino deposit via Apple Pay
Instead of tapping your phone against a reader, you will simply log into your Apple ID account to make the payment. Select Apple Pay within the cashier section of your chosen casino that accepts this method. You will then be transferred to log in and confirm the purchase. If you have ever paid for anything using PayPal, the process is very similar to that.
Just be sure you have read all the deposit terms and conditions prior to making a payment into your casino account. If there is a bonus to be had, make sure you abide by the conditions attached to it. There might be a minimum amount you need to deposit, for example.
What about withdrawals?
Apple Pay was designed to make it easy for people to go cashless and use their iPhone to pay for goods and services. As such, we recommend you select another banking option for those times when you’d like to withdraw any winnings you’ve managed to scoop.
That might sound odd, but it works identically to phone bill payments. You may have seen ‘pay by mobile’ as an option at several casinos. This means you can add your deposit to your phone bill and pay it later. However, you cannot make a withdrawal to your bill. Think of Apple Pay in the same way.
Is Apple Pay coming to an online casino near you soon?
We sure hope so. It is impossible to say which casinos will introduce this payment method, or when they will choose to do so. However, you can bet they will make a big announcement whenever they do add it to their existing banking methods.
If you would like your favorite casino to introduce Apple Pay, why not ask them? If they get requests from more players, they’ll see it is something people want. And it makes sense to keep the players happy, don’t you agree?
