Payment Options Continue To Be An Issue For US Online Sports Betting

This past weekend, PayPal secured a partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook as a payment provider. The deal allows DraftKings to keep abreast with its rivals in the burgeoning US sports betting market.

As it stands, PayPal now has deals with five of the seven online sportsbooks in New Jersey. 888 Sport just joined the party in the Garden State on Monday, and PayPal is one of its deposit options. But despite the deals with PayPal, getting money on and off online betting sites isn’t as seamless as gamblers and operators would like.

An issue in America

PayPal finds itself in a very tight competition for the American deposit fee in sports betting. American banks have made depositing into gambling websites a tricky proposition for many bettors, particularly when it comes to credit cards.

In fact, according to Legal Sports Report, credit card decline rates have never dropped below 50 percent since New Jersey launched online gambling. Still, even with so many credit cards unable to deposit, New Jersey residents put money online with credit cards 20 percent of the time.

According to Eilers and Krejcik, the vast majority of deposits occur via eCheck or prepaid cards. Electronic wallets like PayPal only account for 5 percent of deposits. However, the revenue is so large that payment processors can’t afford to ignore the market.

So, what are the options?

Most New Jersey online sportsbooks offer several types of deposit options — and some options within those types. Here are those options, with examples of each:

• eCheck
  • ACH
  • Telecheck
• Dedicated prepaid card
• Credit card
  • Visa
  • Mastercard
• eWallets
  • Neteller
  • PayPal
• PayNearMe (service through 7-Eleven)
• Online banking
  • Wire transfer
  • Online bill pay
• Other (cash at land-based casino cages)

With that in mind, here’s what each New Jersey online sportsbook accepts. Bear in mind that this list can change at any time – check with the individual sites for confirmation.

Online Sportsbook	Credit Card	eCheck	Prepaid Card	eWallet	PayNearMe	Online Banking	Other
888	Yes	Yes	Yes	PayPal Neteller	No	Yes	Yes
Caesars	Yes	Yes	Yes	PayPal Neteller	Yes	No	Caesars cage
DraftKings	Yes	No	Yes	PayPal	No	Yes	No
FanDuel	Yes	No	Yes	PayPal	No	No	No
playMGM	Yes	Yes	No	Neteller	Yes	Yes	Borgata cage
SugarHouse	Yes	Yes	Yes	Neteller	Yes	Yes	Sugarhouse cage
William Hill	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	In-person at sportsbooks

Nevada

The only other spot in America that has any kind of mobile sports betting is Nevada. West Virginia can offer mobile betting, but is not ready to do so yet. Here’s a list of the mobile sports betting apps in Nevada:

• Superbook (Westgate)
• playMGM (MGM Resorts International)
• STN Sports (Station Casinos)
• B-Connected Sports (Boyd)
• Golden Nugget
• Caesars
• Treasure Island
• William Hill
• South Point
• Atlantis Reno

However, Nevada’s foray into online sports betting is a bit quirky. All of its online betting occurs through apps alone — no websites exist.

Furthermore, every app is intimately tied to an existing land-based sportsbook. Play on those apps is supposed to be a mere extension of playing in the live book itself.

That focus carries over to the deposit options in Nevada. The only universal deposit method is an in-person deposit at the app’s home sportsbook.

Other than that, options are a bit scarce. Three casinos – Westgate, Station Casinos, and MGM Resorts – offer debit cards that can accept credit cards, other debit cards, or electronic fund transfers.

Aside from that, the only other option is using PayNearMe for a William Hill deposit. PayNearMe is a bill pay service that operates through 7 – Eleven, of all places. Players can also deposit cash directly into William Hill self-service kiosks.

Europe

The defining characteristic of European sportsbook banking is the variety of options. The differences in currency and banking practices mean that European sportsbooks must have at least one option for every country.

Take 888 Sport, for example. A quick count of its payment methods reveals that there are 38 different ways a bettor could put money on the site.

Not every one of these works for everyone, though. Some of them are specific down to a country, such as Multibanco (Portugal) or Verkkopankki (Sweden).

Even William Hill, which is the top sportsbook operator in Nevada, offers more options overseas. It’s simply the nature of the beast.

However, with that increased flexibility comes increased complexity. Navigating the various legal situations on the European continent means that entire armies of people have to work to ensure compliance. One saving grace about the American situation is its existence under one, albeit annoying, law.

If those don’t work…

In terms of online depositing in America, there are a couple of options that you might want to consider. Some of these other methods have significant drawbacks, like fees or compliance issues, that make the process more onerous than necessary.

So, the first recommendation is Neteller. Neteller has worked in the payment business since 1999. It is also virtually universal in the American market. Its fees are fairly low, and there’s little to no concern about security.

The other recommended option if PayPal and Neteller aren’t available is a prepaid debit card. Other than that, there’s no substitute for depositing cash at the cage. If you don’t mind the inconvenience, there’s no question that the deposit will go through.

It’s simply a matter of choosing the right option for you.

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