Skrill is one of the oldest e-wallet services in the iGaming industry today; those who have been playing online since the beginning may even remember the days when the service was known as MoneyBookers. Before the development of e-wallet services such as Skrill, your options for depositing and withdrawing at online casinos, poker rooms, and bingo sites were extremely limited. The advent of ‘digital wallets’ marked a significant milestone in allowing the industry to grow into the multi-billion-dollar powerhouse it is today.

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Using Skrill as your primary deposit and withdrawal method for online gambling used to be a no-brainer; however, changes within the industry in recent years – combined with PayPal’s re-entry into the iGaming space – have presented significant challenges for both Skrill and its parent company Paysafe. In this article, we’ll look at the current state of play with Skrill in the iGaming industry.

The term e-wallet has become an umbrella term in recent years and now refers to several other types of payment methods in addition to the kind of service Skrill provides. For example, Apple Pay and Google Wallet could also be described as digital or e-wallet services, but both require you to have linked bank cards attached to the service to function. Those services are amazingly useful in today’s digital economy, but as far as online transactions are concerned, they offer little to no benefit over using the attached debit or credit cards directly.

Skrill, on the other hand, is a fully self-contained system that allows you to hold a balance in an online-only account. Like its prior competitor Neteller, Skrill was even designed specifically for use within the iGaming industry – the company did have aspirations of expanding out into a general payment method for online purchases at one stage, but it soon transpired that focusing on the iGaming market exclusively was the most promising path for the company to take.

Today, Skrill represents just one arm of a larger conglomerate known as Paysafe, which also operates Neteller and Paysafecard. All three of these businesses have exclusive deals with online gaming websites; Neteller focuses primarily on sports betting, whilst Skrill is better known for its connections with the casino and bingo world. 

No, you are not. After you have made a deposit using Skrill, the funds are immediately added to your bingo account balance and can be used to purchase bingo tickets, play slots, and other casino games. There is; however, a frequent caveat in that many operators will not credit their advertised new player promotions to anybody that uses Skrill to make their first deposit.

Be sure to check the terms and conditions before opting to make your first deposit using Skrill, and if such a rule exists, use an alternative method when making the first deposit at that operator. This rule usually only applies to your very first deposit, so you can switch to using Skrill for all future transactions if you prefer.

Despite the strong regulatory framework that exists within the iGaming industry today, many players are still dubious about handing out their bank or debit card information to a multitude of different operators where they might like to play from time to time. Skrill allows you to add your cards to their system, which will enable you to pay with them at any bingo site that accepts Skrill without having to give that site the information directly. This also saves you time repeatedly entering the same information over and over again each time you register with a new site.

Using Skrill also has advantages in terms of security - the majority of online bingo sites do not support two-factor authentication, which is a standard feature offered by Skrill. So if your bingo account is somehow accessed by an unauthorised party, they will not be able to deposit or withdraw without access to your Skrill password and 2FA authentication method.

When making a withdrawal, most online bingo sites will process e-wallet payments much more frequently than those sent to bank accounts or debit/credit cards. As a result, it’s not uncommon for operators to pay Skrill withdrawals several times per day, and in some cases, they may even be sent automatically within seconds of you making the request!

In some jurisdictions, using an e-wallet such as Skrill can also have significant cost advantages, especially if your card issuer charges for making gambling-related deposits and withdrawals. Skrill transactions qualify as payment transfer services rather than gambling transactions, potentially saving you substantial transaction fees.

Finally, Skrill has exclusive promotional agreements with many site operators, so you may be able to access unique rewards and incentives that are simply unavailable when using alternative deposit methods.

Until just a few years ago, registering for a Skrill account required very little in terms of KYC or identity verification. Unfortunately, this aspect of the service caused many bingo sites to refuse new player bonuses to those opting to use Skrill as a first deposit method, as it became far too easy for unscrupulous players to take unfair advantage of such offers by registering multiple Skrill accounts.

This has now changed, and Skrill requires the same KYC verification as any other iGaming-based website. Unfortunately, this has not yet caused a repeal of the refusal to award new player bonuses to those using Skrill. Furthermore, if your documents fail to verify correctly using the automated verification procedure, it can often take significant time for a human staff member to manually verify your documents and thus enable you to begin using your Skrill e-wallet account.

Indeed, customer support is probably the biggest problem that players report when it comes to Skrill and the other Paysafe companies – if you have an issue that requires you to contact them via phone, be prepared for a long wait on hold. Although that is always a frustrating experience, it is no doubt preferable to going down the e-mail route, where players frequently report waiting several days to receive a response. 

If you are based in the United Kingdom, using a Skrill account to deposit and withdraw at online bingo sites is usually fast and trouble-free. After first opening your account, you may choose to fund it using a debit card, cryptocurrency, bank transfer, or even a Paysafecard voucher. Before you do this, however, there is actually a better alternative worth being aware of!

Instead of topping up your Skrill account in advance, log on to your favourite online bingo site and choose Skrill as your deposit method. Because you have no funds in your account at present, you will be asked to select the funding method you wish to use for this deposit; by depositing directly through Skrill into your online bingo account, you will avoid the fees that are usually charged for making a payment to Skrill directly.

Skrill has a long and rich history within the gambling industry and is a solid option for depositing and withdrawing if you don't want to use the more traditional methods such as a debit card. As I've mentioned in the article, however, you will need to make sure there are no restrictions on claiming the welcome offer if you choose to make your first deposit via Skrill. 

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