As New Zealand online gamblers undoubtedly know, you can just wave a magic want and deposit money into an online casino, primarily because there literally no New Zealand-based online casinos. Although a casino may imply otherwise, virtually 100 per cent of the money that goes to depositing New Zealand goes to off-shore online casinos, the vast majority of which are based and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority. Outside of the UK Gaming Commission, which unfortunately blocks New Zealanders from playing, Malta is the destination of choice for New Zealanders to play. Besides their reputation for fairness, Malta-based casinos have a stunning reputation for treating Kiwi gamblers deposit funds safely. So what are the options for depositing money in an online casino and what are some of the cons concerning those options?
1. Credit cards
Credit cards are by far the most secure means of making deposits to an online casino. First, the major pro, if an online casino accepts them, is that money is there instantly, so assuming there are no other problems with your account, you can begin to gamble immediately. What about the cons? The first con with credit cards is dependent upon the type of credit cards and the local rules for using them as well as rules for which casinos attempt to process credit cards. The plain fact is that even if you have a Visa or a Mastercard, the two most popular credit cards for processing online gambling deposits, that Visa Card may work perfectly fine for Online Casino A and be rejected for use with Online Casino B, and both may be licensed in Malta for example. Technically, most credit card companies do not support online gambling on their face, but the vast majority of those same companies will ignore the rules and go ahead and process the transaction anyway. Part of the frustration of using credit cards is that it is darn hard to get the credit card processors to spell out the rules. For example, they may easily approve a $1,000 deposit and reject a deposit in the same casino for a $5,000 deposit. Meanwhile, the poor Kiwi gambler doesn’t really understand why. Is it the amount of the deposit, or was there some kind of complaint lodged against the casino or a problem debt? Maybe that casino has landed on some bean-counters secret blacklist. And you know the credit card company will not send you a list of casinos it does business with. Still, credit cards are the most secure method of making deposits to a casino.
2. Debit cards
Debit cards are almost as secure as credit cards but they are not as fast. Additional time has to be spent electronically in accessing your account. The other major problem with debit cards and this perhaps has to do with creditworthiness, is that far more out of New Zealand debit cards are blocked for online gambling transactions.
3. E-wallets
By far, outside of credit cards, E-wallets, operated by third-party firms are the most popular ways to stock an online account. Unlike a debit card for example, which may be blocked by a bank from access to online gambling sites, E-wallets are never blocked under ordinary circumstances. This is because the bank does not have any knowledge whatsoever as to how the money is being used. Yes, it could be used to deposit money to an online casino, but at the same time, it could be used to buy a high-end computer or a welder for your shop. The only problem with E-wallets? Fees? You will certainly pay a fee, sometimes a hefty one for transferring money from your bank account to an E-wallet account. The good news, however, is that most casinos treat deposits made by an E-wallet as very similar to a credit card. The money shows up almost instantly and can be gambling rather quickly.
4. Poli for deposits
Poli is an Australian version of an E-wallet that many New Zealanders, particularly those without credit cards or who have tried to use their own credit cards but have failed. The big advantage of Poli over other E-wallet systems is that Poli has virtually no fees for making an online transfer. Poli is a virtually hassle-free method of making payments to an online casino, and your payments are always 100 per cent confidential.
5. Wire Transfer
Many people resort to using wire transfers for online gambling, and it is definitely secure. And while the casino may be called World-top Casino or some other clever name, during the wire transfer the account number will be certainly more discreet. Worl-top Casino, as far as banking is concerned, maybe account 1A- 2365B or something similar and innocuous. Ir is doubtful the bank will even ask what the money is for but rather just take the fee and do the wire transfer. As far as casinos are concerned, the two major disadvantages of bank transfers in that they tend to get expensive, so you do not want to do them for a small amount like $500, and besides, sometimes it takes a couple of extra days for a bank to be processed by the casino.