Using Mastercard at Online Casinos
Mastercard is not only one of the world’s most widely used payment methods, but also a popular payment option at South African online casinos.
Read on to learn about Mastercard and its security standards, and find out what advantages and disadvantages there are to using Mastercard at online casinos.
About Mastercard
Mastercard is a multinational payment merchant headquartered in New York, USA. The company has been around since 1979 and processes payment between banks and merchants, and offers branded credit and debit cards to various financial institutions.
The company was initially a cooperative owned by more than 25,000 financial institutions and started as a response to BankAmericard, which later became known as Visa. However, since 2006, Mastercard has been a publicly-traded company.
Mastercard Security
As one of the world’s leading card banking merchants, Mastercard upholds the highest security standards.
Through its online payment security system, SecureCode, Mastercard ensures that online payments are verified with OTP (one-time password) codes sent to consumers through SMS by their bank.
Furthermore, Mastercard can also sign up for transaction alerts via their bank so that they are notified about possible fraudulent activity irrespective of where they are.
Using Mastercard at Online Casinos
Mastercard has been a standard payment option at online casinos ever since the first real money casino was launched.
This payment method is a popular option due to its widespread usage, international recognition and high security standards. However, there are arguably a few disadvantages to using credit cards at online casinos.
Here is a table listing all pros and cons of using Mastercard at an online casino:
- No Fees – Mastercard does not charge any fees whatsoever. If you encounter any fees when making a payment, it is set by the casino. Mastercard only charges merchants, never consumers.
- High Security – Mastercard is one of the most secure payment methods.
The SecureCode payment system ensures that no one can use your card details to complete transactions as each transaction is verified by a one-time password (OTP) sent to you by your bank.
- Featured at All Online Casinos – Along with Visa, Mastercard is one of the most featured payment methods at online casinos.
Regardless of what casino you are playing with, you can almost always pay with Mastercard.
- Long processing times – The processing times for card payments at online casinos are relatively slow. Once the casino has processed your withdrawal, you may have to wait up to five banking days for the funds to arrive in your account.
- Leaving Out Card Details – Although Mastercard has impeccable security standards, and online casinos use sophisticated SSL encryption to ensure unwanted third parties do not access sensitive customer data, you are still leaving out your card details when you make a payment – just as you would when shopping online.
However, the SecureCode system offers an additional layer of protection that makes it almost impossible for scammers to use your card information as they would also need your phone and bank logins to make a payment.
Nonetheless, if you are concerned about leaving out card details on several websites, you can use an e-wallet such as Skrill or Neteller instead.
Deposit and Withdrawal Limits
Deposit and withdrawals are generally set by the casino and rarely by the payment provider. Therefore, deposit limits vary from one casino to another, and it is also not uncommon for casinos to set different limits for the various payment methods they offer.
As a rule of thumb, South African online casinos that accept Mastercard have deposit limits as low as R25, whilst the minimum withdrawal limits tend to range around R300 to R350.
How to Deposit Using Mastercard
Depositing money with Mastercard at an online casino is very straightforward. Follow these simple steps to fund your account and start playing:
Go to the casino’s cashier and choose Mastercard as your payment method.
Enter the amount you wish to deposit.
Enter your card number, along with the card expiry date and the CVC code, which can be found at the back of your card.
Complete the payment. In many cases, your bank will send you a text message asking you to verify the payment.
Once you have made a deposit, your card will be saved so that you do not have to enter your card details every time you wish to make a deposit.
Making Withdrawals With Mastercard
To withdraw money using Mastercard, you must have made a deposit with your card. This means that your card will be saved at the time you decide to make a withdrawal.
Therefore, you simply head to the cashier and choose your saved Mastercard whenever you wish to withdraw funds from your account.
Simply enter the amount you want to withdraw and confirm the payment. Once that is done, you will receive the funds in one to five banking days.