Interac Casinos

There are many ways of transferring money across the internet. The most commonly used methods are the use of a debit or credit card, or an eWallet of which PayPal is the global leader. Many companies focus on one type of payments service. Visa mainly operates debit cards, MasterCard are a credit card company and both Skrill and Neteller operate as eWallets. A few companies operate as all-rounders, though.

In Canada, the majority of Canadians will be familiar with Interac. Interac began in the 1980s as an association of Canadian banks that wanted to link together in order to make transactions between each other and other institutions more streamlined. They launched a debit payments card system, which does for Canada what Visa does for many other global countries.

Interac runs several other services too, including Interac e-Transfer and Interac Online.

A Brief History of Interac

Interac was first established in 1984 by five leading Canadian banks – RBC, CIBC, Scotiabank, TD ad Desjardins. Their aim was to create an inter-bank debit payments system, which is how Visa works in many other countries throughout the world. By 2010 over 80 banks had joined the scheme, issuing cards to thousands of customers.

Another company called Acxsys had set up an e-transfer system under the Interac banner in 1996. The e-transfer worked in a similar way to PayPal without the need to maintain a PayPal-style balance. In 2018 Acxsys’s services were merged into Interac.

In 2005 Acxsys released another service which allowed customer-to-merchant payments directly from a bank account, as long as the bank from which the payment was requested was from a participating bank. This too was eventually merged into Interac’s services.

Interac – Pros and Cons

Pros

• You have a number of options of how you use Interac
• Secure as secure can be
• Most Canada-facing online casinos will accept Interac payments
• Can easily be used for withdrawals

Cons

• Only available to casinos players in Canada
• You may be charged for using Interac

How to use Interac at Online Casinos

There are three ways in which you can use Interac at an online casino that accepts Interac payments. If you have a bank account with an Interac debit card, then you can use this card to make a payment just as you would if you were to use any other type of card – debit or credit.

Head to your online casino where you want to make a deposit and choose Interac as your payment method. You will then be required to enter your card’s number, plus other items of information that will identify your card. Also, select the amount that you want to deposit. Once everything has been okayed, your money should be transferred instantly.

You should be able to use your Interac card for withdrawals too. The withdrawal process is identical to the deposit process except that you are moving money from your casino account to your bank account, and not vice versa. Withdrawals also take longer than deposits – the standard processing time is three to five days.

Interac e-Transfer

Some casinos may allow you to use Interac e-Transfer to send money to your online casino. This service is somewhat like PayPal in that you can use it to send money to someone’s bank account via their email address. The online casino will give you instructions on how to complete an e-Transfer to them.

This transfer is usually conducted via your online banking portal, but not all banks in Canada will allow for e-Transfers. This is because an automated e-Transfer (which is the only kind of e-Transfer that an online casino can accept) is less secure than a non-automated one.

Interac e-Transfers cannot be used for withdrawals from online casinos.

Interac Online

This payment system is used by people who do not have an Interac card or do not want to use it to make online payments. It is identical to the services offered by InstaDebit and iDebit in Canada, and other such services like GiroPay in Germany and iDeal in the Netherlands.

To use Interac Online at an online casino head to the cashier and select it as your payments method, then choose the amount that you wish to deposit. An applet will then appear with a list of participating banks. Choose the bank where you have an account that you wish to deposit money from. Your normal internet banking page will appear – this page is provided by your bank and not the online casino or Interac. This means that your sensitive financial information is kept safe.

Enter your username and password and then confirm the transfer. If everything is okay then your deposited money should be available at the online casino instantly, or at least within the hour.

Interac Online is not typically available for withdrawals. You may have to use your Interac card to make a withdrawal or use some other kind of payment services provider.

Conclusion

There are not many multi-functional payment systems available for online casino players, so it is good news for people in Canada that they have Interac. Online casino players in Canada that use Interac have three ways in which they can transfer money into their online casino account – their card, an e-Transfer or Interac Online. Unfortunately out of those three, only cards are available for withdrawals.

No matter your choice for making payments to your online casino account, make sure you do so responsibly and never gamble with money that you cannot afford to lose.