Payment Methods Available in India

If you have managed to create an account at a betting site, then you know the next step involves funding it. This simply means that you have to deposit funds into an account using the payment methods that is available to you. The same applies to withdrawing money out of the betting site.

There are tons of options available from debit / credit cards to e wallets and even bitcoin at some betting sites. What is important to know is that there is no real standard set of payment options. There are however certain payment processors that are more widely used than others.

Each payment method comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. If you look at the betting sites on cricketbettingpro you will see that each bookmaker will entice you with some sort of a welcome bonus or promotion.

However not all payment methods are eligible for these promotions. The most prominent example being of neteller and skrill being excluded from said promotions and bonuses.

The obvious question that springs to mind is which payment method to use? Some methods allow for instant deposits while others can take hours, even days to process.

Some payment methods facilitate both deposits and withdrawals and some only facilitate deposits. Some payment methods charge you for making deposits and withdrawals and some can be considered riskier to use than others.

Let’s look at the different types of payment methods in more detail to see which one is most suitable for you.

Debit Cards

One of the more popular online payment methods available at betting sites, debit cards are issued by financial institutions aka banks.

These cards allow customers to pay for goods and services and withdraw cash provided there are enough funds in the bank account.

The biggest advantage of using a debit card is that it is a viable option on nearly all betting sites. Any deposit made using a debit card is instantly reflected into the player account.

The one drawback is that not everyone will have a bank account and therefore a debit card.

Credit Cards

Right up there with debit cards in terms popularity, there are tons of companies willing to provide consumers with credit cards. Visa, Mastercard and Maestro dominate the market and are most commonly accepted at sportsbooks around the world.

While you have other options such as American Express, unfortunately they are not as widely accepted as the three mentioned above. Like debit cards, deposits and withdrawals are instant.

Registering a card to the betting site also takes a few seconds and involves you filling out the basic information related to the credit card.

Once the information is entered it is stored with the betting site so that you are not required to enter it every time you need to make a deposit or withdrawal.

The ease of deposits using this payment method can be considered as a slight advantage. For those that love their sports betting a bit too much, this payment method allows them to fund their accounts in no time so they can continue playing.

Also, most credit card companies consider these deposits as cash advances and purchases. This means that the deposits are subject to much higher interest rates.

Another disadvantage of using a credit card are the fees associated with each transaction. Most of the tier 1 bookies do not charge fees associated with credit cards.

However, there are some who pass on the charges to customers. Moreover, credit card companies themselves are most likely to charge currency conversion fees so you may want to pick a betting site that offers the same currency as your credit card.

E-Wallets

The last couple of decades have seen an explosion in e wallets available to customers in India. The main reason for the glut in e wallets is down to the insistence of the Reserve Bank of India to stamp out gambling related transactions. As a result debit / credit cards and bank transfers have become highly unreliable and e-wallets have come to save the day for Indian punters.

An e wallet is usually funded using debit / credit cards or via online bank deposits. Once there are funds in the e wallet, they can be used as a payment method to fund your gameplay at a betting site.

When talking about withdrawals it is important to note that funds are first withdrawn into the ewallet and then need to be transferred to the bank account or onto your credit card.

There are several e wallets available with the most popular being Neteller, Skrill, Paysafecard and Entropay.

PayPal is giant in the world of online payments. It is considered as the darling of e-wallets as it meets the necessary requirements set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

There are several advantages of using Paypal starting with the account creation. Creating a PayPal account is a hassle free affair and can be done in a couple of minutes with no financial details asked of you when creating the account.

The best bit is the speed that comes with the PayPal payments. Deposits are instant and are protected both by the bookmaker’s and PayPal’s SSL certificate. If you do ever get into a pickle when using this e-wallet you can always contact their excellent customer support team.

Neteller came into existence in the late 90’s and by the early 2000’s had cemented itself as the premier e-wallet for gambling related activities.

To put this into perspective, gambling activities accounted for 95% of Neteller’s revenue. The e-wallet became responsible for processing 85% of global gambling transactions.

The biggest advantage for the Indian punters when using Neteller is the multi-currency wallet it offers. When setting up the account, you have the option of choosing Indian rupees which means no FOREX related charges will be applied when funds are moved.

Neteller is also convenient way to move funds should you decide to switch betting sites. Since nearly all sites offer Neteller as a payment method, you can easily move funds from an existing bookmaker to another.

If you are concerned about the security aspect then you will be glad to know that Neteller uses 256 bit-keys secure connection, firewall to prevent unauthorized access to its private network and 2-factor authentication to secure account.

Last but not least, Neteller have partnered up with some cricket betting sites to provide exclusive promotions to their customers. Combine this with a payment method that is extremely low transaction fees and you have a great payment method to use on Indian cricket betting sites.

Similar to Neteller, Skrill is an e-wallet that brings along with it the benefit of instant payments. It also supports multi currency meaning that you can deposit and withdraw money in rupees.

You also get exclusive bonuses available at betting sites if you use Skrill providing an extra incentive for you to use this e-wallet.

What started as an idea among four friends has grown to become a popular voucher based card with over half a million outlets around the world. The retail outlets were primarily used to sell the cards until 2004 when users could also buy them online.

The company has gone from strength to strength since then reaching over ten million transactions in 2007 followed by a partnership with MasterCard in 2009 to finally being bought over by Skrill in 2013. In 2015 both Skrill and Paysafe were acquired by their current owner, Paysafe Holdings UK Limited.

As of now, Paysafe is offered in over 49 countries with India being one of them. There are several benefits associated with using Paysafe including the ease of purchasing the card both via offline and online channels. The deposits made on betting sites are instant and the card be used on both desktop and mobile devices.

The greatest advantage of using Paysafe is the limit that punters can place on how much they bet. You can only use the amount that is available on the card and once that finishes the only other option is to top up. This makes it an ideal payment method as it supports responsible gambling.

Starting life as EcoCard, PSI-PAY Ltd it’s current owners launched the payment to primarily service the needs of European customers. With global domination in sights, the e-wallet was launched to several other countries outside of Europe including India in 2010.

In 2013, the name was changed to the more familiar EcoPayz and since then the card has been made available to over 180 countries. An exclusive partnership was signed with MasterCard giving EcoPayz users access to the MasterCard network further expanding its reach.

The main advantages apart from free account creation and instant payments include safety and security when using EcoPayz.  The payment method is regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) making it a highly reliable option for punters in India.

Anonymity is a big feature when using EcoPayz that does not disclose the financial information of the player to the betting sites.  You can also make transactions at bookmaker’s without having to worry about deposit or withdrawal fees.

The rise of cryptocurrency has been well documented over the years. For those that are still unaware of this payment method, cryptocurrency is an internet-based medium of exchange which uses cryptographical functions to conduct financial transactions.

You will often hear the word ‘decentralised’ associated with crpyto which simply means that the currency is not controlled by a central authority aka bank. The currency can be exchanged, transferred between two entities without the support of a financial institution.

Over the last couple of years a ton of currencies have been introduced with the most popular being Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum. There are numerous benefits associated with using crypto when playing at a betting site. These include privacy meaning that your sensitive data is not available to any bank or government system. All you are required to do to make the deposit is provide the address of your crypto wallet.

Apart from keeping your personal information secure, the transaction fees you pay can be very low and the transactions are instant. With no intermediaries involved, as soon as the betting site authorises your request for a deposit or withdrawal the transaction will occur almost instantly.

Prepaid Cards

In a world dominated by huge financial institutions, there are some individuals who still prefer to not give their details to them. As a result, these individuals do not own debit or credit cards. If you happen to fall into this category, then have no fear as prepaids are the most convenient option for you to use at betting sites in India.

Similar to the payment methods listed above, there are several brands of prepaid cards available. Neteller, Skrill, Paysafecard, and PayPal also offer prepaid cards that are widely accepted by betting sites.

The prepaid cards are easy to purchase and can be found at most convenience stores, grocery stores and drug stores. Some can only be used once while others fall into the category of being reloadable.

Making deposits using a prepaid card is an instant process and is done without you sending any delicate financial information to the betting site.

While the anonymity they provide is excellent they do come with some drawbacks. These are mostly associated with fees which fall into the category of monthly fees, transaction fees and even activation fees.

The biggest drawback however is that even if you manage to deposit using the prepaid card, it is quite likely that the betting site will not allow you to withdraw using the same method.

As a result you will have to find an alternative withdrawal method.

Wire and Bank Transfers

A payment method rarely used these days. This involves the customer to go to a physical location such as a bank to transfer the money to the betting site.

The customer is required to give the teller the necessary information to be able to make the transaction. The sender is provided with a receipt and code which is relayed to the receiver. The receiver is required to then go to the bank to collect the cash.

As can you probably tell, this method is highly inconvenient for all parties involved. There are also fees associated with these methods which are higher than those charged by the other payment methods.

These fees are not fixed and associated with the amounts being sent i.e the higher the amount the greater the fees. Furthermore, the deposits are not instant and withdrawals can take a bit of time as well.

Due to lack of legislation surrounding gambling, bank transfers are often blocked which is the last thing a player wants to hear when they are ready to bet on their favourite cricket matches.

On the upside, bank transfers offer high withdrawal limits and you can withdraw a maximum of ?5,000,000. Also, very little sensitive financial information is being shared with the betting site and this method is very safe for performing transactions with clients all over the world.

Payment Methods’ Safety and Security

When conducting a transaction over the internet, the first thought that crosses the mind is the safety and security surrounding it. Cybercrimes are no longer just terms used in sci fi movies but are a very real and present threat.

Personal information falling into the wrong hands can do a lot of harm and we often hear of stories of fraudsters hacking into accounts and stealing data.

With using any payment method, the first thing to consider is the URL of the site you are transacting with. You need to make sure that the URL is secure which is indicated by “HTTPS://” as opposed to “HTTP://

When selecting the betting site, you should also read their privacy statement as well as any other information related to security.

It always makes sense to do a quick google search on the site you are going to be playing at. Any gremlins or bad reviews will be manifest themselves on the search engine giving you a better indication of the quality of the site.

The best advice that we can give you is that you need to keep your financial information private.

Do not give away personal and financial information to employees of the betting site that have nothing to do with customer service or security.

While credit card companies and payment processors are investing heavily into cyber security, you need to take steps on your side as well.

We hope this gives you a better indication of the list of payment methods in India.

With each method there are advantages and disadvantages, so you need to make a call on whichever method you are comfortable with.