Mastercard

What is MasterCard?

MasterCard is a credit card with which can be used to make payments both online on countless websites as well as in millions of real life” so-called “points of sale”, being stores. As such, MasterCard is accepted in more than 210 countries worldwide and by more than 25 million companies. Additionally MasterCard can be used internationally to get money at banks or ATMs all over the globe.

A MasterCard, like all credit cards, is linked to your normal bank account and guarantees your payment to the recipient. So even though at that moment you haven’t got the money (yet) on your bank account, you can still make a deposit or a MasterCard payment  almost wherever you are and whenever you want. In fact you’re taking a loan that you’ll pay off as soon as there’s money on your account, normally after 30 days, but some of the MasterCard providers can give you the possibility to pay back over a longer period and in smaller parcels.

The height of your monthly MasterCard credit you combine upfront when signing the contract to get your MasterCard credit card and this loan will depend on your monthly income. Therefore also a credit-check is carried out when you apply for the MasterCard being issued to you.

You can obtain the MasterCard credit card at practically all renowned banks but also several other organizations like large retailers or chain stores are licensed to issue the card by a partnership they’ve closed with the MasterCard company. Also various e-wallets and prepaid cards can issue a MasterCard to their clients (either a virtual or a physical “plastic” card) which enables them to make payments (and perform withdrawals) by using the world wide MasterCard platform.

Paying with MasterCard in an online casino

Making deposit in an online casino by MasterCard is a simple and quick procedure. Choose on the deposit page of the online casino for “credit cards” and in the sub-menu for the “MasterCard” option. Fill in your 16-digit MasterCard card number and your name (exactly as it is written on your card), the date of expiry of the card (under your name on the front side) and the 3 digit Card Verification Value (CVV) safety code (on the back of the card and sometimes dubbed as CVC number = Card Verification Code). Of course you need to fill in the amount you want to deposit and lastly you have to confirm your payment after having checked if the payment details are correct.

The deposited amount is immediately visible on your casino account and ready to use as play money.

The fee that is charged to make a payment with your MasterCard depends on the casino you´re depositing in. If the payment isn´t free of charge then normally a fee between 2% and 3% needs to be paid on top of the deposited amount. As is the case with the VISA credit card some online casinos will drop the fee if the amount exceeds a certain value.

Also the minimum and maximum amount you can deposit by using MasterCard depends on the rules of the casino and on the height of the credit that is combined with the bank that is linked to the MasterCard.

Withdrawing with MasterCard in an online casino

Withdrawing funds with a MasterCard is practically done in the same way as making deposit. Also to retrieve money from your casino account you need to fill in your credit card number, your name, the CVV/CVC number and the expiry date of the card. It usually takes up to 1 to 5 banking days before the withdrawn money is visible on your MasterCard balance.

In contrast to the VISA credit card MasterCard recently has adopted the policy to less and less allow withdrawals from online casino accounts by using their cards. If withdrawing by using MasterCard is still accepted by an online casino most casinos will only accept this withdrawal possibility if the same MasterCard is first used to make a deposit with (which, by the way, normally is also a requirement for withdrawals made with a VISA credit card).

Just like when depositing with MasterCard the fees charged for withdrawing and the time it takes before the withdrawal is processed both depend on the specific online casino.

Advantages of using MasterCard

The main advantages of using a MasterCard credit card to upgrade your online casino account are:

• It´s an easy way to make a payment (the procedure to deposit will only take a few minutes);
• It´s a fast way to upload funds to your casino account (the money will arrive instantly);
• You can deposit without actually having the money on your bank account (as it´s a “credit” which “loan” has to be repaid afterwards).
• You can choose in which way you want to repay your credit: by a monthly redemption or spread over a longer period.

Furthermore owning and using a MasterCard for making payments has the advantage it´s worldwide accepted as a payment option, both online in web-stores and on websites as in normal stores and points of sale all around the world.

Other advantages are the discounts you can get by paying with your MasterCard credit card when purchasing goods at almost 400 web-stores like, for example, at the online stores of Dell, Apple, Amazon.com and numerous others, and the product purchase insurance of 1 year against loss, theft or damage connected to your MasterCard payment.

Disadavantages of using MasterCard

Although there are the above described advantages of using a MasterCard as a payment option (whether in online casinos, on websites or in normal stores) there certainly are some disadvantages to consider too:

• First of all there´s the security issue when using a MasterCard for online casino payments as with every deposit both the data related to your credit card as well as your personal data needs to be provided. If this (combined) information ends up in the wrong (criminal) hands it´s very easy for a third party to make misuse of the credit card. Therefore you should always be very careful with both your MasterCard and personal data when using this payment option for an online casino deposit (or, for that matter, a payment to whom or whatever).
• Second, the advantage of being able to make a deposit with a MasterCard without really having the money “in your pocket” (on your normal bank account, that is) can also be a big disadvantage as it holds the danger you’ll pass your budget very easily, thus creating a potential financial problem.
• A third disadvantage to consider are the fees some online casinos charge for payments and withdrawals made with a credit card.
• Last but not least there are less and less online casinos that allow making withdrawals by using MasterCard and before using this online banking option it´s wise to consult the bank that funds the MasterCard account as some banks don´t allow payments to online casinos anymore.

Where to pay with MasterCard?

Just like the VISA credit card the last few years also MasterCard has lost a lot of its popularity as an online (casino) payment option. This is mainly due to the various other online payment methods (like e-wallets, debit cards and prepaid cards) that have emerged. These online banking options currently allow you to make casino deposits that are not only safer, but they almost all offer the same advantages and conveniences like easiness, instant availability and wide acceptance as by paying with a MasterCard (or any other credit card).

Nevertheless still most online casinos accept the MasterCard as a banking option, in particular to make deposits with. Check out the list of reliable Netent Casinos on the right side-bar of this page that still allow players to use MasterCard at their cashier.