The Reasons Why Casinos Decline Player’s Deposit

Most online casino enthusiasts have had the awful experience of logging on, entering their credit or debit card info, and then being faced with the message “your deposit using this payment method has been unsuccessful. Please try another payment method.” It’s a very frustrating message to receive. The good news, though, is that it’s an easy problem to get around if you can identify why the deposit is being declined. There are a few possible reasons for this to happen.

A Bank Declined the Transaction

This is by far the most common reason for online casino deposits to be declined.

Banks are generally scared of online casino transactions. After all, online gambling is not exactly the safest corner of the internet as some online casinos are used for money laundering or other forms of fraud. Famous anti-internet gambling lawsuits have only made banks more terrified to touch online gaming transactions.

Of course, there are many legitimate online casinos out there that only serve customers in a 100% legal manner. But there are also offshore casinos that are frequently used for illicit purposes. Since banks mostly use automated programs to accept or decline customer transactions, they prefer not to take a risk and decline any transaction related to online betting.

Even if you contact your bank and ask them to whitelist your online casino payments, they generally won’t do it. This is because laws like the Wire Act of 1961 and the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) of 2006 throw internet gambling into a legal gray area. Although the transactions would almost certainly be deemed legal, the banks ban any activity related to online gambling rather than get involved.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s always the issuing bank, and not the credit card company itself, that denies an online betting transaction.

Solution: 

You can always try again. In the case of some banks, the automated system only catches online gambling transactions about 50% of the time. The other 50% will go through. And don’t worry about getting in trouble; banks do not actually take action against online gamblers beyond declining the transaction some of the time.

If the transaction is still not working and you’re not sure why, you can review your bank’s policy on online casino transactions. Just Google “(your bank’s name) online casinos.”

Did You Reach a Casino Deposit Limit?

Most online casinos either enforce a daily deposit limit or allow players to specify one for themselves in an attempt to limit irresponsible gambling. If your deposit is a particularly large one, it is likely it exceeds the specified limit.

Solution: 

Check your online casino account page to see if you have a deposit limit.

Have You Done KYC?

Casinos are legally obligated to conduct KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures that verify their users’ identities. If the users have not completed the process, their deposits will be declined.

Solution: 

Head over to your casino account page and make sure you’ve gone through KYC. There are often several different “levels” of KYC verification. Check that you’ve done enough to allow your deposit.

Do You Have Enough Money in Your Balance?

Do you have enough money in the account you’re paying from to make the deposit you’re attempting? You need to consider any deposit fees or conversion rates that you may have to pay as well when you want to make a deposit in an online casino. 

Solution: 

Make sure the money in whatever account you’re using is at least as much as the deposit you’re trying to make. If you’re attempting to completely drain your account to pay for your deposit, try decreasing the deposit amount by a few dollars and it may go through.

Entering the Wrong Info

You may have entered something incorrectly when filling out payment details about your chosen deposit method. Anything from your credit card number to your PayPal email to your billing address could be entered incorrectly.

Solution: 

Make sure all of the payment info you entered is correct. Verify it is all the same as whatever appears on the ID document you provided for KYC.

Slow Deposit Times

Sometimes it may seem like your deposit did not go through when it actually did. This is because online casinos sometimes take a very long time to review deposits and make sure they’re legitimate before actually crediting the money to the account. Deposits have been known to take days, and it’s not always easy to tell that the transaction is pending.

Solution: 

Just wait! If you want to make sure your payment was submitted, most casinos show this information on the transaction history page of your casino account. Look for “pending transactions.”

Is Your Internet Connection Weak?

If your computer’s internet connection drops out, your funds will not be deposited.

Solution: 

Check your connection in your computer’s toolbar. If it’s low or nonexistent, wait for it to improve or move closer to the router. You could also try unplugging the router and plugging it back in and waiting for the connection to restart.

Crypto Deposits

Perhaps the best solution of all when your online casino deposit is declined is changing your deposit method to cryptocurrency. Unlike credit and debit cards, crypto is decentralized which means payments cannot be blocked by establishments like banks. Transaction times are also very fast, meaning you won’t have to wait long for deposits to go through. The freedom and anonymity allotted by crypto significantly cut down on issues that could cause online gambling deposits to be declined.

It’s free and easy for gamblers to open a crypto wallet and get started wagering Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, or many other cryptocurrencies. Of course, you may still run into issues like internet connection problems or deposit limits even when you use crypto. For people who cannot gamble because of their bank or their geographical location, though, using cryptocurrencies at online casinos is a great way to avoid your deposit being declined.

What Payment Methods are The Most Likely To Be Accepted? 

There are lots of ways to make deposits at online casinos, and many of them have different likelihoods of being accepted or declined. Take a look at the table below, and consider adopting a new payment method if your normal one is declined often.

Of course, each of these methods also has its own upsides and downsides. Western Union is a bit more involved, for example, since it requires you to actually write down your casino’s address and drive to a Western Union location. For any of the methods, do a bit of independent research to decide if it’s for you.