A major concern that players have at online casinos is their security. Figures from 2022 reported that there were around 19.3 million active online gamblers in Canada. That’s a huge volume of people that modern advancements in technology are helping to keep safe.
Tying into that has been the increase in the popularity of e-wallets for online gambling payments. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Neteller, Skrill… There is a huge variety of them accepted by modern casinos. If you are interested in a particular payment method, you are recommended to read expert reviews, as well as find platforms that accept it. For instance, you can learn more about Skrill casinos and evaluate their benefits, or focus on another digital wallet type. Here we will speak about the rise of e-wallets since they are an important part of the future.
The Old Payment Ways
In the early days of online gambling, payment methods were far more restricted than they are today. Bank transfers and bank cards were just about all there was and neither offered any particularly fast processing times.
Banking options are still widely used today across online betting platforms. They remain popular because of that link to financial institutions which comes with regulatory processes to ensure safe transactions.
It is those regulatory steps however that can slow the processing times down. People generally want access to their online winnings as quickly as possible and therefore many have taken a shift towards e-wallets.
Along Comes Digital
The first electronic payment network to hit Canada was Interac which was backed by the country’s banks. They branched into electronic payments in 2003 paving the way for future funding of online gambling accounts.
Other major e-wallet payment solutions like Skrill and PayPal have since become commonplace for online transactions. The explosion in the growth of smartphones in the last 15 years, has seen newer e-wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay hit the scene.
Staying Anonymous
But what do e-wallets provide as an advantage over traditional banking and payment methods for online gambling? One is anonymity, something that ties nicely back to players having a sense of security at online casinos and sportsbooks.
Unlike when using a bank card, no financial details are sent over to the online gambling site when using an e-wallet. While some form of payment will be linked to the e-wallet and the payment taken from there, the transaction is anonymously secured by the e-wallet. It prevents the step of having to enter your bank card details at yet another online platform.
Fast Withdrawals
Another reason why e-wallets have grown in popularity so much is that they offer a fast withdrawal source. It was reported that among Ontarians who engaged in online gambling in 2022 almost half preferred using e-wallets because of this one reason.
While a withdrawal to a bank may take anywhere up to five working days (with weekends and national holidays throwing extra delays into the mix), withdrawals to e-wallets can be completed within 24 hours. The frictionless transaction platform has been a game-changer.
Are Digital Wallets Safe?
Digital wallets are safe to use, and just as with anything to do with finances, the user has a responsibility to look after their assets. That includes using strong, secure passwords, never sharing account information and not using unsecured data connections.
Not only are e-wallets secure and quick, but they are, for the large part, simply app-based. For modern players who enjoy online gambling via their phone, that means everything in one place. It’s just a quick link from an e-wallet to an online betting account for example.
For operators, e-wallets are another route to customer acquisition as the numbers show that players who bet more frequently, prefer using e-wallets. For the player, e-wallets provide a neat nice bundle of convenience, speed and security.
