In today’s online iGaming industry, there are countless reliable and trustworthy methods that you can use to deposit funds at your favourite online bingo site. However, whilst the industry has come a long way since Costa Rica was the primary arbiter for addressing issues in this space, it’s understandable that many players remain weary of handing over their personal banking details to online gaming websites. 

A great solution to this problem is the advent of so-called Pay-by-Phone services; operators such as Siru and Boku allow you to deposit at online bingo sites using your mobile phone bill or your PAYG (Pay As You Go) credit balance. Of course, every site on our list below is also regulated by the UK Gambling Commission for that extra peace of mind!

pay by phone UK bingo sites

Whilst we’re all familiar with more common payment methods such as credit and debit cards or PayPal, few people in developed economies are acquainted with pay-by-phone solutions such as Boku or Siru. This contrasts with developing nations, where this has been a common payment solution for decades – long before the advent of RFID-based solutions such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet. In this next section, we’ll go over the main questions and answers regarding using pay-by-phone to play bingo in the United Kingdom.

When British folk speak of paying using their phone, most of us think of the contactless payment services provided by Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Pay-by-phone in the context of online bingo is slightly different; if you have a mobile phone contract, your deposit will be charged directly to your next monthly telephone bill. For those of you who have a Pay-as-you-go SIM card, you’ll need to have sufficient credit on your balance to use the service instead.

Certainly not! After you deposit using a pay-by-phone solution such as Boku or Siru, the funds are immediately added to your bingo account balance and can be used to purchase bingo tickets, play slots or casino games, or participate in any other activity that the site offers. 

A pay-by-phone deposit is often less limiting than using other deposit methods such as e-wallets, too – most bingo sites will not prevent you from taking advantage of deposit bonuses as they might if you used PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, or Neteller to fund your account.

The most obvious advantage of using pay-by-phone to fund your bingo account is the convenience. There’s no need to input your debit card details, meaning there is no possibility of that information being stolen if the site were to be hacked at a later date. This also means that you are free to play on the go, even if you don’t have your cards with you or are using a device without access to stored passwords for other payment methods, such as PayPal.

Paying by phone is also extremely safe and secure – after you initiate the pay-by-phone deposit, a text message will be sent to your handset with a code that needs to be input for the purchase to be completed. This prevents anybody who may have accessed your Bingo account fraudulently from making such a deposit without your express permission. 

Many online bingo sites offer exclusive promotions and bonuses to their pay-by-phone customers. However, there is a slightly less attractive reason for this – see the negatives section below for further details. As a final benefit, paying by phone also frees you from many of the withdrawal restrictions that are usually imposed if you fund your account via more traditional methods – in most cases, deposits made via pay-by-phone result in a restriction-free balance that you are then free to withdraw using any method of your choice. 

Of course, such a wide range of benefits has to come with at least one or two negatives, the most obvious of which is that you could end up with a sizable phone bill at the end of the month! Most operators, including Vodafone and EE, limit the amount you can spend on pay-by-phone services each month, which is usually set at around £75 to £100. If you have a healthy credit rating, you can probably increase this limit upon request. However, it is perhaps wiser to clear your outstanding spending, as this will allow you to make further payments afterwards.

Another issue is that the transaction fees for making pay-by-phone deposits are frequently much higher than those for other deposit methods. Some online bingo sites charge around 5% for these services, but it’s not uncommon for fees of 10 or even 20% to be added to the amount credited to your bingo balance! This can sometimes be offset slightly if the site gives you a bonus or promotion of some type in addition to your cash funds, but it’s still something that you should always keep in mind when using these services.

Finally, whilst the ability to withdraw using any other method is an advantage, as detailed in the previous section, it can also be a negative too. For example, if you are using pay-by-phone to avoid having to hand over sensitive banking information, then having to do so to make a withdrawal does negate that advantage significantly.

In the United Kingdom, the two most common businesses used to access pay-by-phone deposit services are Boku and Siru. Both of these services operate similarly, although, in our experience, sites that offer Boku tend to charge lower fees than those supporting Siru.

If both services are available, it’s wise to compare the price of each before making your deposit. Next, choose how much you want to pay – there will usually be several pre-determined deposit amounts listed, each of which includes the fees involved in the transaction. For example, at my favourite online bingo site, a Siru deposit of £12.50 will add £10.00 to your bingo balance. 

After initiating the transaction, you will be passed over to the Siru site, just as you would be transferred over to PayPal if you chose to make a PayPal deposit. A transaction summary will then be displayed, listing the amount of credit you will receive and the amount about to be charged to your telephone account. Then, if you decide to proceed, a four-digit pin will be sent to your handset, which you will need to input into the site to confirm the deposit. Once that’s done, you’re all set!

I’d never considered using this type of payment service until recently when I discovered it was an option for purchasing games via the Xbox Live store, and the service was refusing to accept my regular payment card details for some reason! 

I was so impressed with the speed and smoothness of the transaction that I’ve since begun to use it to pay for other things when it has been the most convenient option available, and I’m truly glad to have discovered it. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend opting for this payment method if the fees are more than 10%, but if you find yourself in a situation where you aren’t keen on handing over your personal information, then pay-by-phone services could be the ideal solution.

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