If everything goes to plan, you’ll eventually win at an online casino. You can keep playing with some of those winnings, but if your win is substantial, you might prefer to withdraw it. In that case, it is important to understand how online casino payout times work. You’ll also want to make them work for you, so that’s what we’re going to cover on this page.
There’s a lot to cover, so we’ll just jump right in.
The payment process
Due to various laws that prohibit money laundering, withdrawing at an online casino is quite a process. Although, honestly, much of this process is automated nowadays. For the most part, if you’re gambling ‘above board’, then you should be fine. Just bear in mind that withdrawal times can be lengthy on occasion. More on that soon, though.
This is an overview of how withdrawals work at online casinos:
- You tell the online casino you want to withdraw cash from your account.
- The online casino will then process this payment. This process will (in most cases) be completely automated. The process checks to ensure that you are who you say you are, as well as that you won the money properly.
- The money is sent to your selected payment method.
- The money arrives at your selected payment method. How long this takes will depend on your chosen payment method. It could be anywhere from instant (ie as soon as the payment has been initiated) or take a few days.
Casino payout times can vary
Payout times can vary from online casino to online casino. It will also vary depending on the payment method requested. There are many different reasons for this. For example, some online casinos may process payouts manually rather than with an automated payment system. Others may use payment processors that are a little on the slower side. Some may batch-send payments to save themselves a bit of cash.
When you’re looking for the best online casinos, have a look through the help pages at your chosen platform. This should tell you, roughly, how long withdrawals from the site will take. It will also give details on minimum withdrawals, as well as any fees associated with the transaction. Most online casinos should not have a withdrawal fee, outside of something that takes a bit of effort, for example, if you’re withdrawing and requesting a check that needs to be mailed to you.
Larger online casinos tend to be faster
Larger online casinos tend to have faster payout times. This is because:
- They have automated many of their payment systems. Some of the smaller online casinos will approve every withdrawal transaction manually to stay within the bounds of the law (and to make sure that they are not being scammed), while major online casinos will have developed systems that carry out those checks automatically. If AI continues to thrive in the casino industry, chances are that many online casinos will switch to automated systems.
- Major online casinos often work with improved payment processing systems. Some may even be able to prioritize all payments made through those systems. However, delays are something that seem to be happening less and less since the fintech arena is packed to the brim with quality payment processors nowadays, and almost everybody has access to them.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should only gamble at the largest online casinos, as there are often a few downsides to doing so. The difference is also unlikely to be too much between large and smaller casinos – we’re talking a few hours to a day or so. However, if faster withdrawals are a priority, always try to use the larger online casinos.
Your first withdrawal may be slower
For the most part, any online casino withdrawal that you make will take the amount of time that the online casino lists on their help pages. The one exception is for your very first withdrawal. As part of anti-money laundering checks, online casinos need to know who they are sending money to. This means that you’ll need to send them a copy of your ID (the online casino will tell you what form of ID you need to send) before they release any of your funds. It can often take a couple of days for this process to complete, although, once again, some platforms will use automated verification systems.
You can speed this part of the process up, though. When you register for an online casino, always go to the ‘My Account’ section of the site (or whatever your chosen platform calls it) and submit your ID. If you do this in advance of your first withdrawal, then the process should be fairly fast.
There could be delays with your withdrawal
Online casinos will never guarantee the speed of a withdrawal, even if they have automated systems. This is because, every so often, they need to make checks. Often, these checks are random. An online casino may pull up a transaction to verify that their systems are working properly. This, however, should only delay the transaction by a few hours.
Some people, particularly those who have made a lot of withdrawals at an online casino, may have their transactions delayed too. This is because an online casino may want to carry out further investigation into the details. Most of the time, it isn’t anything to worry about. An online casino will usually continue the transaction without further input.
Remember – an online casino cannot legally deny you access to legitimately won funds. If an online casino denies you access to your funds, complain to the relevant licensing authorities (after you’ve tried to resolve the issue with the online casino).
The best payment methods for withdrawals
For fast withdrawals, we suggest that you use eWallets such as PayPal, Skrill or Neteller. You can also withdraw to a cryptocurrency wallet, which tends to be quite fast. However, most online casinos do not support crypto, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can take a lot of jumping through hoops to make crypto withdrawals work for you, especially if you want to convert the funds into fiat currency.
Withdrawals to your debit card should be almost instant, although they may take up to seven days as these withdrawals are normally processed as a refund. Bank withdrawals can be instant, depending on where you live, although some banks may not process withdrawals over a weekend.
If you want a fast withdrawal, then we suggest that you avoid using the check option. It’ll need to be mailed to you and it could take up to a month before you receive it.
When should you withdraw your winnings?
Whenever you want! If you’ve hit the minimum withdrawal limit, then feel free to withdraw your cash. However, do bear in mind that if you’re not gambling a whole lot and are making frequent withdrawals, online casinos may get a bit suspicious.
For us, we tend to withdraw when we need access to money (or when we have won big and we don’t want to add the cash to our bankroll). This means that winnings may sometimes be sitting around in our account for a while.
Final thoughts
Online casino payout times can vary from online casino to online casino. Some methods can be instant, while others can take days. Do your research to make sure that you choose the online gambling platform that suits your needs. It might also be wise to submit your ID documents when you first sign up for an online platform, as this will help to speed up your first withdrawal.