Paysafecard is an international prepaid service that can be used to make online purchases using already paid for purchasing cards. The company was originally founded in Austria, but has been purchased by British e-Wallet company Skrill a few years ago. Learn all about paysafecard right here.
Paysafecard was founded in Austria in 2000 and has thus been around for quite some time already. The four people behind the company wanted to give customers a safe payment method that would allow for complete anonymity and use a prepaid system that would not require anyone to give out the bank or credit card details.
Thus customers would purchase prepaid cards in retail stores, which they could then use to make purchases online.
Initially paysafecard was only available in Germany and Austria, but by 2004 the company had expanded their services to the UK, Greece, Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia. By that time they had also introduced e-vouchers, which made paysafecard’s prepaid cards available for purchase online.
In 2009 the company not only expanded further within Europe, but also jumped across the pond to offer their services in Argentina, followed only a year later by expanding into the USA and Mexico. Additionally they obtained a MasterCard license, which then enabled the company to issue MasterCard-based items.
In 2013 Skrill acquired paysafecard, though the company continues to operate as a subsidiary under its own brand.
By now paysafecard is available in over 40 countries and in more than 20 currencies.
Usually here we explain how to sign up to a payment service or some such, but in the case of paysafecard it is not actually necessary to have an account. Yes, nowadays it is indeed possible to create one, mostly for the purpose of keeping all your available PINs in one place and keep an overview of what you used already and what is still available for use.
But it’s also entirely possible and by most customers preferred to use paysafecard without an account. So, whether you buy a prepaid card at a retail store or online, the principle is essentially the same. You choose the amount you wish to purchase, usually starting at £/€/$10, which gives you a 16-digit PIN number on your prepaid card or e-voucher.
That number is then used when you make an actual purchase online or want to put money into your online casino account. You can use that PIN number several times or as long as there is still money on your prepaid card.
The main thing for most customers is that they don’t need to have an account, if they don’t want to, and that they’ll thus never have to supply their credit card or banking details, especially if they buy a paysafecard prepaid card at a retail store, where they can simply buy it with cash.
A lot of online casinos offer paysafecard as a payment option. If you want to use it, you simply need to go to the cashier, choose the amount you wish to deposit at the casino and opt for paysafecard as your payment method. You’ll then be asked for the 16-digit PIN, which you enter into the required fields and the amount chosen will automatically be deducted from your prepaid card.
Do be aware that it is obviously only possible to make deposits using this method. There is no way for the casino to actually use paysafecard for withdrawals, because there’s nowhere for them to send the money to.
If you’ve chosen paysafecard as your deposit method, you will likely have to opt for a bank transfer as your withdrawal method. That is often the default withdrawal option at online casinos, when the deposit method is not available for withdrawals. Most casinos do want you to choose the same method for deposits and withdrawals.
To be perfectly honest, we’ve never actually seen specific online casino bonuses for paysafecard. They may very well exist, but we’ve not come across them and so we can’t say what they might look like.
That said, when you visit paysafecard’s homepage, you’ll find a subpage for promotions there. Currently none of those promotions appear to be connected to online casinos, but you can also sign up for the paysafecard news letter and receive all the latest information and promotions that way.
Promotions aside, one of the main advantages and attractions is the complete anonymity when using paysafecard. Customers use already paid amounts of money to make actual purchases online or deposit money into their online casino accounts, but at no point do they have to provide their personal or financial details. There’s not even a need to verify your identity before using a prepaid card.
Additionally the fact that it is a prepaid service, allows you to have a pretty tight control over your funds. Prepaid cards have exactly the value you purchased them at. You can’t dig into a credit as you would with a credit card or deplete your bank account.
Of course you could purchase more prepaid cards, but that is a step that may actually think you twice before going ahead with it. So your budget is fairly well under control.
Should someone else get a hold of your PIN and use it, it’s also good to know that your funds are protected under an insurance.
It’s rare to find an online casino that doesn’t offer paysafecard as a payment method. Obviously it will only ever be a deposit method and not a withdrawal option, but it is almost always available.
Consequently you’ll be looking into a number of other criteria to choose your preferred online casino. We have a comprehensive guide on what you should look out for and what we go into when reviewing online casinos. Available payment methods are only one aspect. If paysafecard is the way for you to go, then you can always check out the reviews for the listed casinos that offer it.