Today the best online casinos offer a number of payment options for deposits and withdrawals. Each of them is safe and secure. But each has its own advantages and disadvantages. This article discusses the various payment options and will act as a primer for new players and a refresher for older ones.

Credit cards and debit cards collectively form the most used payment option. Almost everyone will have a credit or debit card that they use for offline and other online payments. So the simple argument is why get involved with a different online casino payment option. One reason could be that in many countries players cannot withdraw their winnings into their credit card accounts. And some issuing banks treat deposits at online casinos as cash advances, which are subject to heavy charges.

Electronic wallets are a commonly used payment option. Electronic wallets are especially useful for players who always keep some funds online. You can deposit and withdraw at online casinos using electronic wallets without any charge. Initially, at least, funds will have to be transferred to an electronic wallet using credit card or bank transfer. And transferring funds from an electronic wallet to a bank account is costly.

If you are the type of player that does not want a trail of your transactions with online casinos then prepaid vouchers is a good option. You can purchase the voucher for cash, probably at an outlet round the corner. At the online casino you only have to enter the code concealed on the voucher and the amount gets credited to your account. The big problem is in withdrawal of winnings. The online casino will send you a check for this.

One would have thought that transferring funds directly to and from bank accounts would be the simplest options. But there have been historical impediments. One is the cumbersome nature of regulated bank transactions in the past. And more importantly, many online casinos operate from offshore locations. Today each country has local apps that allow seamless and immediate transactions between your bank account and the online casino bank account.

The latest payment option is cryptocurrency, of which the predominant one is Bitcoin. It can be purchased at online currency exchanges and stored in special electronic wallets. Since there is absolutely no national regulation, the use of crypto currency has no legal hassles. This lack of regulation is a source of worry among a section of online casino players. Another problem with crypto currency is its volatility with respect to national currencies.