Prepaid Cards Poker Websites – Play Poker using Prepaid cards Online

If you are one of those players that continuously experience rejections while using a credit card at almost every online poker room you register with, then you’ll be pleased to know that you can change your deposit method without having to jump through hoops with an extensive registration process.

Let’s say you don’t have any alternative deposit method other than your credit card for online purchasing. Well, you no longer have to worry, as you’ll only need to search for a reputable online poker room that accepts prepaid cards as a deposit method.

Never heard of prepaid cards before? Well, they are essentially the same as debit or credit cards but has one main difference in the fact that credit cards have a pre-determined limit. You are more than welcome to use your prepaid card for several other things besides online gambling. For instance, you can purchase different online services and shop online.

Top American Prepaid Cards Poker Rooms

Overview of Prepaid Cards

A prepaid card also referred to as a ‘stored-value card’, is a type of payment card with a financial value stored on the card itself. A fantastic feature of prepaid cards is the fact that your money, or any relative information implemented onto the card, is not physically stored on the card either. The funds are available in the form of binary-coded data.

Prepaid cards are also different to regular debit cards that hold a specific amount of money in reserve with the issuer. The financial money of prepaid cards is not linked to any external account that is maintained by a specific financial institution. Unlike debit cards that are always issued to the account holder, prepaid cards are most of the time anonymous. In addition, all data relating to prepaid cards is maintained on the servers and computers of the prepaid card’s issuer.

In most cases, stored-value card names will be specific to a certain company or country and won’t be identical across the globe. You will also need to keep in mind that they are usually preferred when deciding to make micro money transactions of low value.

MonkeySee

Different types of Prepaid Cards

There is a wide range of prepaid cards available across the globe. Some of the most popular prepaid cards include closed system prepaid cards and semi-closed prepaid cards.

Closed System Prepaid Cards

These types of cards are mainly issued by merchants and can only be redeemed for purchases from the merchant. They are mainly loaded with a fixed amount and are referred to as store cards or merchant gift cards. These prepaid cards are purchased as gift cards and are quickly replacing the paper gift certificate that most people are traditionally used to.

There are generally not any laws that govern prepaid cards. In addition, card sellers or issuers are not required to get a license. The closed system prepaid cards also won’t allow someone to identify the customer it belongs to. Furthermore, there are currently no laws that will require a merchant to offer refunds for stolen or lost cards. Once a cardholder uses the card on merchandise and leaves an insignificant potion on the card, the remaining amount is usually lost and will be considered a gain for the merchant that issued the card. The merchant will also obtain a gain when a cardholder does not use the card within a certain time period, as the card will typically have an expiry date as well.

Semi-Closed System Prepaid Cards

These types of prepaid cards are very similar to closed system prepaid cards. However, instead of only using the card at one merchant, cardholders will be able to redeem the cards at several merchants within a specific geographic area. Semi-closed system prepaid cards will be issued by third-parties as opposed to a retailer accepting the prepaid card. These can include mail gift cards or university cards.

The laws surrounding these types of prepaid cards are unsettled. It will greatly depend on the state, and country, and might require or may not require a money transmitter license or any other license that is similar to a money transmitter license.

Advantages of Prepaid Cards

There is a range of incredible advantages when you decide to use a prepaid card to deposit at your favourite online poker site that accepts prepaid cards as a deposit method. A deposit with a prepaid card will always reflect instantly in your poker account which means you can join a cash table within seconds after your deposit has been approved.

In addition, when you deposit an online poker room through a prepaid card, you will also receive a match bonus on your deposit. Another excellent benefit of prepaid cards is that you will be in full control of your online gaming expenditures as prepaid cards will be limited to how much you’ll be able to deposit at any given time. Furthermore, most prepaid cards are usually co-branded with Mastercard and Visa which will allow you to use them almost anywhere, and not just for online gambling.

Disadvantages of Prepaid Cards

Although there is a wide range of advantages when it comes to prepaid cards and online gambling, it does come with a few disadvantages too. When using a prepaid card to deposit at an online poker room, or to pay your bills, for instance, it will have additional fees attached to your purchases. This is considered the biggest disadvantage of using a prepaid card as your deposit method. Another disadvantage is the fact that most prepaid cards come with an expiry date, and if you don’t use the money loaded on the prepaid card within a certain time frame, the funds cannot be retrieved. Lastly, it’s also worth mentioning that in most cases, you won’t be able to withdraw your winnings when using a prepaid card. Therefore, you will need to have an alternative payment method at hand when withdrawing your winnings.

Prepaid Cards and Online Poker

Today, most online poker sites across the globe will also allow you to purchase prepaid cards directly from their site, making it extremely easy and convenient for players to simply get one without having to run around and obtain one themselves. The entire process is very easy and won’t take a lot of time out of your day.

However, should you register with an online poker room that does not offer this option, you can quickly obtain one from your nearest bank and load credit on the prepaid card yourself. If you are registered with an online poker room that will allow you to buy a prepaid card, you simply have to visit the banking page and click on the prepaid option to buy one. In addition, when buying a prepaid card from an online poker site, you can rest assured that it will work perfectly when making a deposit.

The only downside to buying a prepaid card directly from an online poker room is that you will need to have an alternative payment method to buy the prepaid card. For instance, you will need to use your credit card to buy a prepaid card. This defeats the purpose entirely. However, there is a multitude of places where you can buy a prepaid card, including drug stores, grocery stores, and thousands of other retails.

Prepaid Cards FAQ