Neteller

Neteller is among the largest and most well-known e-Wallets around. A majority of online casinos offer Neteller as a deposit and withdrawal methods. It’s a safe and convenient way to fund your online casino account. Here is everything you need to know about getting started with Neteller.

A little background about the company

Neteller was founded in 1999 in Canada by a chap called Collin Francis Bush. He wanted to develop a secure way for players at online casinos to deposit and withdraw funds between their bank accounts and online casino accounts. Thus, Neteller was born.

The idea proved incredibly successful and within a year, Neteller already handled 80% of online casino transactions. Much of their business was conducted by US customers.

In 2004, Neteller moved to the Isle of Man, which is the home of the company to this day. When the US more or less made online gambling (or at least related financial transactions) illegal in 2006, Neteller was hit particularly hard. Indeed, the company held funds of US players for some time, unable to release them for legal reasons until 2007.

The business saw quite a slump after they had to leave the US and revenue fell from $239 million in 2006 to just $44 million in 2010. But Neteller not only managed to survive, they eventually recovered.

When laws allowed for it, at least in part, Neteller relaunched in the US as Optimal Payments Plc and specialised on processing payments at legal online poker sites.

They also launched a Net+ Prepaid MasterCard in 2014.

As one of the biggest e-Wallets in the world, Neteller is now available in over 200 countries and allows transactions in nearly every currency out there, including Indian rupees, of course.

Getting a Neteller account

Signing up for a Neteller account is just about as easy as one, two, three. Simply head on over to their website, hit the sign-up button and fill in your details.

Once that’s done, you’ll need to connect a credit card or bank account to your Neteller account. After all, the money needs to come from somewhere and that’s how it’s usually done. Neteller will verify your account, which usually happens via a small transaction to ensure all is in order. It is also possible to have verification done by phone.

As soon as your account is verified, you can add funds to it and use it as a payment option. You can easily make withdrawals from your Neteller account to your credit card or bank account as long as funds are available in your Neteller account.

Deposit and withdraw to and from your online casino account

Now that you have a Neteller account, you can head on over to your preferred online casino and visit the cashier. Here you select the amount you wish to deposit and then you choose Neteller as your deposit method. No matter which online casino you’re at, the principle is always the same, even if not all cashiers look alike.

As long as Neteller is a payment option (which it almost always is), you can issue a deposit using your Neteller ID or the email address you used to register your Neteller account with. In the case of Neteller, you will usually also need your Secure ID code to authorise the transaction.

Since these transactions take place in real-time, your funds will be available in your online casino account right away.

Once you’re ready to make a withdrawal, you can head once more to the cashier, select Neteller as your withdrawal method and add your Neteller ID or email to process the transaction. Keep in mind that the online casino will first have a look at your request and only authorise it once they have ensured that everything is in order. That includes the verification of your ID. Ideally, you should go through the KYC process before making a major withdrawal, which will save you a lot of hassle.

Depending on your online casino, there might be a transaction limit. Often, larger withdrawals take a little longer to be processed. As soon as your withdrawal has been authorised (which can take a few hours or up to three days), the transfer will be initiated and will then be processed as quickly as a deposit.

Advantages of using Neteller

One of the major advantages is, of course, its wide availability. There’s hardly an online casino out there that doesn’t work with Neteller. So, no matter where you sign up, you can almost always be sure that you will be able to use Neteller for your deposits and withdrawals. This also includes the option to make deposits and withdrawals in just about any currency you need.

Additionally, you can get the Net+ Prepaid MasterCard, which you can use as a credit card for online purchases provided your Neteller account is funded. As is always the case with a Prepaid MasterCard, you can only access available funds since it is not an actual credit card.

It’s even possible to use this card for ATM withdrawals, which can come in handy in case you can’t just go online and transfer your Neteller funds to your bank account.

Another advantage is that Neteller payments are protected under UK financial regulations. Under these regulations, Neteller is required to hold their customers’ funds in a trust account, which ensures that your funds are always available, even if every single Neteller customer should decide to withdraw their funds at the same time.

Finally, some online casinos may offer special Neteller bonuses. The easiest way to find such bonuses is by visiting Neteller’s page and checking their affiliate offers.

Disadvantages to consider

Thankfully, there aren’t many disadvantages to consider when dealing with Neteller. The most important one to keep in mind is applicable fees.

Signing up for a Neteller account is free of charge, but using that account is not free of charge, at least not in every instance. Some transactions won’t cost you anything, but others will be charged at a nominal fee. That is normal and necessary because Neteller is not a financial charity. There’s no such thing and they have to make money to keep operating somehow. All applicable fees you may encounter are listed on Neteller’s homepage.

Whilst most online casinos don’t charge for deposits or withdrawals, some may have fees. It is rare these days, but you can still find such fees at newer or smaller online casinos.

A real disadvantage when using Neteller is imposed by some casinos who don’t allow players to use bonuses when depositing with Neteller. This is often the case with welcome bonuses but may extend to all bonus offers at some casinos. If you’re not worried about using bonus offers, you won’t find this a problem. But Neteller is probably not the ideal deposit method for bonus hunters. Do be sure to check the terms and conditions at your online casino before making your first deposit there.

The upside of forgoing a bonus is, of course, that you don’t have to worry about wagering requirements.