If you’re familiar with the structure and mechanism of social casinos, you might be taken aback at the idea of having safe payment methods. Unlike traditional casinos, you don’t use any money to place bets on slots, poker or other free-to-play titles, so the mere suggestion of a safe payment method might be considered paradoxical.
However, sweepstakes casinos don’t run like a charity. The whole aim is to make money and profit, even if it is on a much lower scale than established, conventional operators. Once you have used up all your initial in-game coins, sweepstakes casinos will give you a handful of options to either earn more through activities such as logging in daily or to buy additional coins. The more you buy, the more you get for your money — basic business marketing strategy. Many of the top social casinos allow several notable payment methods to facilitate payments on their platforms.
Popular sweepstakes casino payment methods
There’s essentially zero difference between the most popular payment methods at a standard casino and those at a social casino. Although sweepstakes casino payment methods can vary, the accurate measure of how well-adjusted a payment method is tends to focus on three crucial and integral variables:
- Convenience
- Speed
- Security
As you have likely gathered from the title of today’s piece, we will be paying particular attention to the third bullet point.
Why is security so important?
Safe payment methods are the backbone of digital businesses. If you offer a product or service to a global market in a bustling, cutthroat sector, you need to do the basics with minimal fuss, providing the customer with zero issues. Approaching this question from a business perspective, firstly, security is a priority as it directly impacts the reputation of the casino in question.
Casinos are a dime a dozen online, and you can easily switch to a new provider within a few seconds. One of the quickest ways to lose your customer base is through a data breach, where their information and security are compromised. This could be personal data such as their date of birth and address or their financial information like credit card numbers. A string of recent data breaches have highlighted how expensive this can be for businesses, with many estimating the losses somewhere in the nine-figure region.
Safe payment methods are imperative and should be a prerequisite of any casino, and this includes sweepstakes casinos. The last thing you expect from a company is that they would jeopardize your information, and you should rightly anticipate they will do everything possible within their powers to prevent this from happening. While the casino can tighten its security, there are also some things you can do to ensure you keep yourself as safe as possible when playing casino games at a social casino.
Basic security: Our top payment picks
You don’t need to go overboard when handling your own private payment data. The number of casinos subject to a breach globally is a tiny percentage, and the chances of you suffering a breach are minimal. However, some bettors aim to put another layer between themselves and their casino provider by using a payment method that is both secure and convenient.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a payment method that isn’t just disrupting the gambling sector, but it’s been the basis of several high-profile court cases in the US, with many keeping an eye on what the SEC plans to do with the industry. The entire basis of cryptocurrency is that the blockchain acts as a secure foundation, validating payments on an immutable, secure ledger, eliminating the requirement for centralized banks to be involved.
Security doesn’t get much tighter or more robust, and there are billions of transactions occurring daily on the blockchain without security issues. One key thing to note is that cryptocurrency social casinos are a small part of the industry. Until precise regulation comes into play, the future of this payment method is uncertain, despite how secure it is.
Apple and Google Pay
Engrained within the seemingly unbreakable security of iOS and Android, these two e-wallet apps have taken the world by storm. Their usage has ramped up considerably over the last decade, and the age of plastic debit and credit cards seems to be quickly disappearing. We’d say both Apple and Google Pay have plenty of appeal from a security perspective. Both have been designed by some of the world’s finest fintech minds. With convenience at the forefront of their original planning, they both meet all the requirements for a convenient, speedy, and, most importantly, safe payment method.
Given the immense success of both companies, with a seemingly infinite amount of cash at their disposal, both payment methods use the highest levels of security and move with the latest technological developments. So, this is a no-brainer regarding safe ways to deposit at a social casino.
VISA
By far the world’s most popular choice for making payments online, the colossal card giant processed over 240 billion card transactions last year. Although there is a case that Apple Pay, Google Pay and cryptocurrency are slightly more secure, VISA offers a clear route for you if you are the subject of fraud. You can contact your bank directly, they can bring up the transaction, and you can claim your money back.
PayPal is equally as effective if your details end up in the hands of cybercriminals, so while it might not seem like a safe option if either of these accounts are breached, the avenues you can take to get your money back ensure they’re a solid all-around option. If your cryptocurrency wallet is drained, or somebody gains your wallet keys, it is far more difficult to claim your money back than via VISA, as many banks have VISA merchant dispute options and fraud teams who will investigate what has happened on your behalf.