Firstly let’s explain what an e-Wallet is – an e-Wallet is basically just a fast, secure and simple way to move money online. The one e-Wallet that most people will either have or know about is PayPal, easily the biggest e-Wallet on the planet and was acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. However, while PayPal is excellent product and I wouldn’t consider using anything else for subscription services or eBay purchases – I would never use it to manage my online gambling activities – PayPal is not the tool to be used for this activity. There are now far better products on the market to help us manage our online gaming accounts. Read more about PayPal and the best PayPal betting sites.
The two main products in this area are Neteller and Skrill (formerly known as Moneybookers). It is important when dealing with online companies like this that you are comfortable with sharing your financial details with them (bank accounts etc.). You may have heard or seen Neteller before as they are the shirt sponsors of Crystal Palace and they are now owned by a company called Optimal Payments, who are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Skrill was initially called Moneybookers (until 2011) when it purchased for €600m by CVC Capital Partners and rebranded as Skrill. Check out our recommended Skrill Betting Sites.
These are the only two companies in this sector (other than PayPal) that I would trust my financial details with and there is no need to have accounts with any other e-wallet companies (despite what they may try and offer or tell you) as all the “reputable” bookmakers will use one or both of these payment providers.
Opening an account is easy, simply use our Free Bets links here and claim your signup bonus go to Skrill sign up page or Neteller home page and select the signup options, then just complete the details as you would for any bookmaker signup/registration.
As with most signups these days, they can be a bit of a pain to setup but the in my opinion the effort is worth it. There are certain KYC (Know Your Customer) checks that need to be done, just like the bookmakers, e-wallets are no different, part of the signup process will require you to send in photographic evidence of who you are and the address you are living at. Neteller (the only company I have know to do this) also used to contact you via telephone – not sure if they still do that!
Once you have signed up you then just need to deposit funds into your e-wallet, you can do this with via credit/debit cards, bank transfers or even sending in a cheque. Once it is funded you are good to go rather than using your bank account to transfer funds in and out of your gaming accounts you can now use your e-wallet by simply selecting the option on the bookmakers site for the e-wallet you wish to use.
The other benefits of using an e-wallet are that the more you use it the better the customer service becomes (like everything these days). Both Neteller and Skrill have an excellent achievable VIP programs which not only reduce fees but they also give you access to a dedicated account manager to resolve any issues immediately.
There are many additional useful features that I use frequently one of them is that Neteller and Skrill (so do PayPal incidentally) offer their customers “pre-paid” credit cards, basically this means that if you have funds in your e-wallet then you have the same amount available on your card. Here is a video from Skrill that explains
This is great additional service and believe me there is nothing better than having Ladbrokes or Coral pay for a nice meal out or filling up your car with petrol!
Another great feature is the ability to be able to send funds, immediately for free (certainly is in VIP status) to another user – know as P2P (Person to Person) Money Transfers. They also often run bonuses or loyalty programs that can see you increase your balance simply by using their services, obviously again this only really benefits the bigger and more active users but it is available.
The majority of my betting accounts I now use an e-wallet for. Personally, I used to find it difficult to manage my cash flow when I was using a traditional bank account, opening multiple betting accounts, moving money from one to the other etc. With an e-wallet I find it so much simpler, easier and faster to transfer cash into the accounts where I need it at that time. I also know that the funds I have in there are purely for my online activities, it gives me the discipline to know that whatever funds I deposit in there, is what I am prepared to play (and potentially lose) with – when it’s gone it’s gone until next month. I find it much easier and I am much more comfortable being able to separate my living expenses (current account) from my betting bank (e-wallet).
IMPORTANT : Just one thing I would check if you are considering using an e-wallet to obtain a bookmakers signup offer, as always, check the Terms and Conditions thoroughly as some bookmakers do not allow sign up promotions on funds deposited via an e-wallet!
As we said earlier signing up is no more difficult than opening a new bookmaking account. They make it as easy simply as possible use our FREEBETS.com links here and claim your signup bonus so if you haven’t used one before why not give it a go and see if it can help you with your online gaming activities.
