Best Betting Sites With Paysafecard

Updated October 2026
Licensed
usAvailable in US
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A smartphone on a wooden table beside a wallet and a coffee cup

A paysafecard code is a 16-digit code, and its balance can be checked by entering the 16-digit code on the provider’s balance-check tool. A bookmaker that serves customers in Great Britain, however it is funded, is one the Gambling Commission has licensed. The two facts sit on top of this page because everything else flows from them: a paysafecard deposit only changes how a punter gets money into an account, not who is allowed to take it.

A paysafecard code is a 16-digit code, and its balance can be checked by entering the 16-digit code on the provider's balance-check tool.

What follows is a shortlist of independent bookmakers that take paysafecard today, the bonuses and free-bet rules each one prints in its own terms, and the payment mechanics — including where paysafecard stops being useful and a bank transfer takes over. Every brand on the list holds a Gambling Commission remote licence. None is called the only licensed one, because the register lists hundreds.

Data current as of October 30, 2026, checked against the Gambling Commission’s public register and each operator’s own published terms.

Paysafecard Bonuses And Free Bets

A bonus is a marketing expense dressed up as a gift, and the clothing rarely fits. The headline number on a welcome offer is the smallest fact about it; the wagering requirement, the minimum price on qualifying bets, the deadline, the cap on winnings, and which products count towards clearing are where the real cost lives. A “free bet” whose stake is not returned with a win is worth less than its face value at any odds below infinity; an “enhanced odds” boost is just a one-off price on one selection with the same stake limit the operator uses for everything else.

An empty football stadium with floodlight masts at dusk
Paysafecard was founded in 2000 in Vienna, Austria.

Paysafecard does not change those mechanics. The deposit method that funded the account is rarely the deciding factor on whether a bonus is granted, and a few licensed bookmakers explicitly exclude e-wallet and prepaid deposits from welcome offers on principle. Where paysafecard sits inside a bonus flow, the section below shows what each operator prints.

The Shape Of A Welcome Offer

Most UK-licensed bookmakers split the welcome into two halves: a sportsbook free bet and a casino match. The split is now a hard rule: a mixed-product promotion that requires gambling on two product types — sports and casino in the same bundle — has been banned by the Commission since 19 January 2026. A bookmaker may still run two separate offers, one per product, but the punter no longer has to claim both to clear either.

An empty courtroom with wooden benches in morning light
Kalooki Sportsbook is operated by Kalooki Sports Book Ltd (company number 12938274), licensed by the Gambling Commission under account number 57730, and is a GAMSTOP member.

The wagering requirement is capped at 10x across the board. A £10 bonus at 10x means £100 of qualifying bets; under the old rules the same bonus could be set at 50x, which meant £500. The cap is the single biggest improvement to bonus economics in a decade, and it applies to every bonus a licensed operator runs, not just the welcome one.

Betboro

Betboro runs a 100% matched free bet of up to £25 on the first qualifying wager. The deposit method must be a debit card, with at least £10 going in. The first bet is £5 to £25, with a minimum of three selections and each leg at 3/5 (1.60) or higher. A single short-priced favourite does not qualify, which rules out the “bet on a 1/6 shot to clear the bonus” trick the older welcome offers used to allow.

The free bet is paid as bet credit: a winning free bet returns profit only, not stake. At 1.60 on each leg, an accumulator has a fair payout share well under 100% once the bookmaker’s margin is applied; the actual value of the £25 free bet depends on which market the punter uses it on. The terms say the credit expires 30 days after issue. There is no wagering requirement on the free bet itself.

DAZN Bet

DAZN Bet’s welcome offer is a matched free bet of up to £25 on the first qualifying wager, with the same minimum three selections, minimum price 3/5 (1.60) structure as most sportsbook welcomes. Deposits start at £5 by debit card, Apple Pay, paysafecard, Trustly and Skrill, and at £20 by PayPal. Paysafecard sits inside the deposit menu, and there is no surcharge for using it.

The welcome offer’s qualifying deposit is not restricted to debit card only at DAZN Bet, which is unusual and worth flagging. Read the small print on the day the offer is claimed; the welcome page tends to tighten payment-method exclusions over the life of a promotion.

Bet Ahoy

Bet Ahoy is a free-bet-led bookmaker rather than a deposit-match one. The headline offer is a 10% Acca Bonus up to £1,000 on winning accumulators, paid as cash rather than free bet credit. The percentage is smaller than the 50%–100% matched deposit offers elsewhere, but the bonus is paid in money and is withdrawable, which is rarer.

The runner-up feature is Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse and greyhound racing up to £100, plus Double Result payout on UK and Irish racing. Sub-Cover, which pays out when a named player is substituted before kick-off on selected markets, is the kind of insurance-style product that softens the blow of a settled bet going wrong. None of these is strictly a “paysafecard bonus”, and the Acca Bonus pays in cash with no wagering requirement attached.

Star Sports

Star Sports runs a standard matched free bet welcome offer, with the precise number and minimum price set in the operator’s own terms at the time of claim. The bookmaker’s reputation sits on horse racing — it has a long history on the rails — and the welcome offer is geared towards racing punters rather than football accumulators. Paysafecard is listed as a deposit method; the welcome terms do not exclude prepaid deposits, but the bonus is paid as bet credit and is subject to the 10x cap on any additional wagering requirement the operator runs.

What The Bonus Cap Actually Changes

A £50 deposit matched at 100% with a 10x wagering requirement means £500 of qualifying bets, of which the punter expects to lose roughly the margin of the markets being bet on. A 5% margin market takes £25 of expected loss. Under the old 50x cap, the same bonus meant £2,500 of bets and roughly £125 of expected loss. The cap is not a free ride — the margin is still there — but it is the difference between an offer a casual punter can clear in an evening and one that takes a week of dedicated betting.

The cap does not remove the minimum price rule. A free bet that only counts on selections at 5/1 (6.00) or higher is a different offer from one that counts on any price; the punter’s effective edge on the free bet is higher on the longshot-only version, but the variance is brutal.

Payments, Payouts And Paysafecard Mechanics

Paysafecard is a prepaid payment method: a 16-digit code is bought online or in a store and used to pay, without a bank account or credit card. The electronic money is issued by Prepaid Services Company Limited, which is licensed by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. The brand sits inside the Paysafe group, and paysafecard was founded in 2000 in Vienna, Austria; Skrill acquired it in 2013 and the group rebranded as Paysafe in 2015.

For a UK punter, three things follow.

First, paysafecard is a deposit method, not a withdrawal method. The whole point of the product is that it is prepaid: there is no account to send money back to. A licensed bookmaker that takes paysafecard will pay withdrawals back to a bank account, an e-wallet, or both. Reading the cashier terms before depositing is the only way to know which.

Second, the credit-card ban for gambling that came into force on 14 April 2020 covers credit-card-funded payments through an e-wallet. Paysafecard is not a credit product, and the ban does not touch it. A punter who would otherwise have used a credit card and now wants a similar hands-off deposit experience tends to land on paysafecard or a bank-based e-wallet.

Third, the identity check runs before the first deposit at a licensed site. The punter’s name, address and date of birth are verified, and a £150 rolling-30-day deposit threshold triggers a financial vulnerability check that reads public records for county court judgments and bankruptcy. The check is not an income check and not a credit reference check. It is also not optional: a licensed bookmaker that lets an unverified punter deposit is breaking its licence conditions. Paysafecard’s anonymity at the point of sale does not extend to the betting account; the two are separate.

Paysafecard At The Bookmakers On This List

DAZN Bet: paysafecard is on the deposit menu, with a £5 minimum and no processing fee. Withdrawals are by bank transfer or back to the original deposit method where the operator supports it; the cashier page is the only place to see the live list.

Betboro: paysafecard is on the cashier but the welcome offer explicitly requires a debit-card deposit. The bonus is not granted on a paysafecard-funded first deposit.

Bet Ahoy: paysafecard is accepted as a deposit method. The 10% Acca Bonus is a settled-bet product, not a deposit-match one, so the deposit method does not block the bonus in the same way.

Star Sports: paysafecard is listed, with the operator’s standard deposit and withdrawal terms applying.

Payout Speed

Paysafecard’s exit from the transaction is the moment a withdrawal is requested. From there, the clock is the bookmaker’s, not the payment provider’s. Two licensed bookmakers on this list publish a withdrawal time:

Inside the four-brand set: payout time is set in each operator’s banking terms and is not a like-for-like comparison without the snapshot date. As a general rule, bank-transfer withdrawals clear in one to three working days; e-wallet withdrawals clear within 24 hours where the operator supports them; paysafecard withdrawals are not a feature of the product, so the question does not arise.

The Shortlist

Four bookmakers, all licensed, all currently accepting paysafecard for deposits. The order is not a quality ranking — the only way to rank a licensed bookmaker fairly is on the punter’s own priorities, and they are not the same for everyone. The table below is the basis for that decision; the write-ups after it are what each one is actually like to use.

Brand Gambling Commission licence Paysafecard and cashier notes
DAZN Bet Account 048756, held by DZBT Limited; remote general betting standard (real events) Paysafecard on the deposit menu, £5 minimum, no fee. Welcome offer paid as free bet credit, stake not returned.
Betboro Account 044181, held by Webmedia Development N.V.; remote general betting standard (real events) Paysafecard accepted; welcome offer requires a debit-card deposit of £10 or more. Free bet up to £25.
Bet Ahoy Account 100094, held by Bet Ahoy Ltd; remote general betting standard (real events) Paysafecard accepted. 10% Acca Bonus up to £1,000 paid as cash, BOG on UK and Irish racing up to £100, Sub-Cover on player substitutions.
Star Sports Account 009177, held by Star Racing Limited; remote general betting standard (real events) Paysafecard accepted. Racing-led product with a long history on the rails. Safer-gambling tools include deposit limits, Play Break and self-exclusion.

The licence numbers are the test of who is in and who is out. A bookmaker whose account number does not resolve on the Commission’s public register is not in this list, whatever its homepage claims. The register is searchable by business name, trading name, domain or account number, and it is the only place to verify a licence from outside the operator.

DAZN Bet — The Shortlist

DAZN Bet is the youngest name in the set, with the smallest product footprint and the cleanest bonus structure. Deposits start at £5 across the standard e-wallet and prepaid set; the welcome offer is a matched free bet of up to £25 on a first qualifying wager; the app carries a sensible in-play section and a bet builder on the major football leagues. There is no major weakness for a punter who wants a simple sportsbook with paysafecard on the deposit side and a bank transfer on the withdrawal side. The bookmaker is part of the DAZN media group, which gives it access to a wider sports streaming catalogue than most of the licensed independents, and the integration with the DAZN streaming subscription is a feature rather than a gimmick if the punter is already paying for it.

The verdict: worth taking for a punter who is already inside the DAZN ecosystem and wants a clean paysafecard-compatible sportsbook. The welcome offer is not the most generous on the list, but the deposit-method flexibility is.

Betboro — The Shortlist

Betboro is the international-facing brand in the set, run by Webmedia Development N.V. The remote licence is held against a Curaçao-domiciled operator, and the GB-licensed entity is the white-label arrangement that lets the brand serve UK customers. That is not unusual: many licensed bookmakers are run from outside the UK under the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014. What matters is the licence account, which is live on the Commission’s register and points at the UK-facing trading name.

The welcome offer is the most restrictive of the four: debit card only for the qualifying deposit, three-leg minimum, 1.60 minimum price. A punter planning to fund the account with paysafecard will need to switch to a debit card for the first deposit or miss the offer entirely. The product range is broad — football, racing, tennis, esports, an in-play section with a usable bet builder, and a casino tab — and the licensed status brings the full set of safer-gambling tools.

The verdict: worth taking for a punter who is happy to use a debit card for the first deposit and wants a broad-market bookmaker with paysafecard on the cashier. A punter who specifically wants to keep the welcome funded by paysafecard should pick another brand on this list.

Bet Ahoy — The Shortlist

Bet Ahoy is the racing-led bookmaker in the set, and the welcome offer is structured around a settled-bet Acca Bonus rather than a deposit match. The 10% bonus on winning accumulators up to £1,000 is paid in cash with no wagering requirement, which is the rare honest version of an “acca bonus” — most of them are paid as free bet credit with the same stake-not-returned clause. Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse and greyhound racing up to £100 means the punter gets the bigger of the price taken and the starting price, and the Double Result payout on UK and Irish racing pays out if the selected horse wins either the official result or the steward’s result. Sub-Cover on player substitutions is the kind of insurance product that pays out when a named player is taken off before kick-off.

The verdict: worth taking for a punter whose betting leans towards horse racing and accumulators. The cash-paid Acca Bonus is a real improvement on the free-bet credit model used by most licensed bookmakers. A punter who bets mainly on football singles and does not place accumulators will get less out of it.

Star Sports — The Shortlist

Star Sports is the oldest name in the set by reputation, with a long history on the rails and a smaller online product than the international-facing brands. The bookmaker is owned by Star Racing Limited, and the licence is held against that UK entity. Paysafecard is on the deposit menu, and the safer-gambling tools in My Account — deposit limits, a Play Break facility, and self-exclusion — are the standard set the licence conditions require.

The product is racing-first: a deep horse racing section, Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish racing, ante-post markets on the major festivals, and a smaller football and tennis offering than the international-facing brands. The welcome offer is a matched free bet, with the precise value and minimum price set in the live terms.

The verdict: worth taking for a punter who bets on racing and wants a bookmaker with a long UK history. A punter whose betting is mainly on football and the major US sports will get more from DAZN Bet or Bet Ahoy.

What A UK Licence Actually Buys

A bookmaker that holds a Gambling Commission remote licence is one the Commission has vetted and is entitled to supervise. The supervision is the value, not the vetting — the Commission’s power to require a bookmaker to pay out a disputed bet, to enforce a self-exclusion request, and to remove a licence if the operator’s standards slip is the protection the punter cannot get elsewhere. The Commission does not insure a bet. It does not guarantee a price. It does require a bookmaker to keep customer funds in a separate account from the operating costs, and it can and does revoke licences when an operator’s standards fall short.

The headline rules a GB punter gets from the licence:

A licensed bookmaker that breaks any of these is breaking its licence conditions, and the Commission has a track record of acting on complaints. The bookmaker that does not hold a licence is not subject to any of the above, and the punter’s only recourse against a withheld payout is the small-claims court.

The Offshore Alternative

A bookmaker licensed in Curaçao, Malta, Gibraltar or anywhere else outside Great Britain is not licensed for the GB market and is not on the Commission’s public register. Such a bookmaker can still take a deposit from a UK punter if the punter finds it and signs up, and the Commission can and does take action against operators that target GB customers without a licence. The action runs through cease-and-desist notices, search-engine referrals, and work with registrars, hosts and payment providers, with court-order DNS blocking powers granted or about to be granted.

For a punter, the practical effect is that an unlicensed bookmaker offers:

The honest summary: a licensed bookmaker buys verification, limits, GAMSTOP and the bonus cap, in exchange for an identity check at the door and a more cautious welcome offer. An unlicensed bookmaker buys anonymity and a more generous bonus, at the cost of every protection listed above. Neither is “the safe choice” by default. The licensed side is the side that can enforce a self-exclusion request; the unlicensed side is the side where the punter has no British redress if a payout is withheld.

Safer Gambling And The Help That Is There

Gambling harm in the UK runs through a small set of services. GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline and the counselling network. GambleAware funds research, education and treatment. The NHS runs regional gambling clinics for the most serious cases. Gamblers Anonymous runs peer-support meetings. The British Gambling Commission maintains GAMSTOP and works with the NHS on the data side. BeGambleAware, GamCare, GAMSTOP, Gambling Therapy and the BGC are linked from the safer-gambling pages of most licensed bookmakers, including the four on this list.

The tools a punter can use at a licensed bookmaker are real:

A punter who wants to use any of these does not need a reason and does not need to ask permission. The licensed bookmaker is required to offer them, and the process is in the safer-gambling or responsible-gambling page of the site. A punter who wants to take a longer break — six months or more — should go through GAMSTOP, which is the only route that covers every licensed operator in one registration.

For a punter who is already in difficulty, GamCare is the first call. The National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133, open every day. GamCare’s website has a self-assessment tool, a directory of local treatment, and a live chat. The NHS runs gambling clinics in London, Leeds, Manchester, Sunderland, Southampton and a growing number of other cities; the referral is usually through the GP. Gamblers Anonymous runs meetings across the UK, with a directory on the GA website.

Crypto, Anonymity And The Limits Of Both

A paysafecard code is anonymous at the point of sale. There is no name on the code, no address, no link to a bank account. Once the code is spent, the balance is gone, and there is no transaction history to trace.

The anonymity stops at the bookmaker. A licensed bookmaker verifies the punter’s identity before the first deposit, and the paysafecard code is just a deposit method. The bookmaker knows who paid, even if the payment provider does not link the code to a name.

An unlicensed bookmaker that takes paysafecard without an identity check is a different product. Such a bookmaker is not on the Commission’s public register, does not participate in GAMSTOP, and offers none of the player-protection features listed above. The punter’s anonymity is the bookmaker’s anonymity: no KYC at the door, no record on the punter’s side, no record the Commission can audit. The price is the loss of every protection the licence brings.

Cryptocurrency is a parallel product. A bookmaker that takes bitcoin, ethereum or USDT and lets the punter withdraw to a self-custody wallet is, in effect, an unlicensed bookmaker with a payment rail. The transaction is on the blockchain, but the bookmaker’s identity is not on the Commission’s register, and the punter’s recourse against a withheld payout is limited to the courts and the operator’s own jurisdiction.

The honest answer to “how do I stay anonymous while betting online in the UK” is: you cannot, and you should not try. A licensed bookmaker verifies identity because the Commission’s licence conditions require it, and the verification is the basis for every other protection the punter gets. A bookmaker that does not verify is one the punter is trusting with funds the punter has no British remedy to recover. Paysafecard’s anonymity is a feature of the payment method, not a feature of the betting account.

Bet Ahoy In Detail

Bet Ahoy is the racing-led bookmaker in this list, and the products it runs are the reason the welcome offer looks different from the others. The 10% Acca Bonus on winning accumulators up to £1,000 is paid in cash, which means the punter can withdraw it without further wagering. Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse and greyhound racing up to £100 means the punter gets the higher of the price at bet-placement and the starting price, on any UK or Irish race. Double Result payout on UK and Irish racing pays out if the selected horse wins either the official result or the steward’s result, which softens the rare cases where a result is overturned after the weighing-in. Sub-Cover, on selected football markets, pays out when a named player is substituted before kick-off.

The licence is held by Bet Ahoy Ltd, account 100094, remote general betting standard (real events). The site is betahoy.co.uk, and the operator is on the GB App Store. Paysafecard is on the deposit menu; withdrawals are by bank transfer. The safer-gambling tools include the standard set: deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion, and links to GambleAware, GamCare, GAMSTOP and BetBlocker.

The product range is smaller than the international-facing bookmakers. Football is well covered; tennis, darts, golf and the major US sports are present; the in-play section is functional. Casino, slots and live casino are available, but the racing product is the differentiator and the reason a punter picks Bet Ahoy over a bigger brand.

The verdict: worth taking for a punter whose betting leans towards horse racing and accumulators. The cash-paid Acca Bonus and the BOG-and-Double-Result combination on UK and Irish racing are the strongest racing-led offer on this list. A punter who bets mainly on football singles will get more from DAZN Bet, where the product is broader and the welcome offer is more standard.

DAZN Bet In Detail

DAZN Bet is the streaming-integrated bookmaker in this list, and the relationship with the DAZN subscription is the headline feature. A punter who already pays for DAZN gets the streaming catalogue in the betting app without a separate subscription; a punter who does not pay for DAZN gets a standard sportsbook with paysafecard on the deposit menu and the standard welcome offer. The integration is one-way: a DAZN subscription is not required to use the betting app, and the betting account is a separate product with its own terms.

The licence is held by DZBT Limited, account 048756, remote general betting standard (real events). Deposits start at £5 by debit card, Apple Pay, paysafecard, Trustly and Skrill, and at £20 by PayPal. There is no processing fee on deposits. The welcome offer is a matched free bet of up to £25 on a first qualifying wager, with the same minimum three selections, minimum price 3/5 (1.60) structure as most sportsbook welcomes. The deposit-method restriction is more flexible than Betboro: paysafecard is not excluded from the welcome.

The product range covers the major football leagues with a usable bet builder, the major US sports, tennis, golf, darts, and an in-play section with cash-out on the major markets. The bet builder is a same-game multi product, with the price set by the operator at the time of placement. The streaming catalogue inside the betting app is wider than the standalone sportsbook brands on this list, but the catalogue is gated by the DAZN subscription.

The verdict: worth taking for a punter who is already inside the DAZN ecosystem and wants a clean paysafecard-compatible sportsbook with the streaming catalogue included. The welcome offer is not the most generous on the list, and the DAZN subscription is a separate cost if the punter is not already paying for it.

Betboro In Detail

Betboro is the international-facing bookmaker in this list, run by Webmedia Development N.V. and licensed by the Commission under account 044181, remote general betting standard (real events). The site is in English, the cashier accepts paysafecard, and the welcome offer is the most restrictive of the four: 100% matched free bet up to £25, debit-card deposit only, £10 minimum, first bet £5 to £25, minimum three selections at 1.60 or higher.

The product range is broad. Football is the headline, with a deep league coverage, a bet builder on the major matches, and an in-play section that runs across the major leagues. Tennis, basketball, the major US sports, esports, MMA, and a smaller racing section are present. Casino, slots and live casino are available, but the sportsbook is the main product. Safer-gambling tools include the standard set, with links to GambleAware, GamStop, BetBlocker and GamCare.

The deposit-method restriction is the deciding factor for a punter who plans to fund the first deposit with paysafecard. The welcome offer will not be granted on a paysafecard-funded first deposit; the punter either uses a debit card for the first deposit or misses the offer. Subsequent deposits can be paid by paysafecard, and the bonus, once granted, is not tied to the deposit method.

A viable option for a punter who is happy to use a debit card for the first deposit and wants a broad-market bookmaker with paysafecard on the cashier. A punter who specifically wants to keep the welcome funded by paysafecard should pick DAZN Bet or Bet Ahoy.

Star Sports In Detail

Star Sports is the racing-led bookmaker with the longest UK history in this list. The bookmaker is owned by Star Racing Limited, and the licence is held by that UK entity under account 009177, remote general betting standard (real events). The site is starsportsbet.co.uk, and the operator is on the GB and Ireland App Stores. The safer-gambling tools in My Account — deposit limits, a Play Break facility, and self-exclusion — are the standard set the licence conditions require, and the page links to GambleAware, GamCare, GAMSTOP and BetBlocker.

The product is racing-first. The horse racing section is the deepest on this list, with ante-post markets on the major festivals, BOG on UK and Irish racing, and a team of form analysts whose tipping content is on the racing pages. Football, tennis and the major US sports are present, but the product is not as broad as the international-facing brands. The welcome offer is a matched free bet, with the precise value, minimum price and minimum number of selections set in the live terms on the day the punter registers.

The verdict: worth taking for a punter who bets on racing and wants a bookmaker with a long UK history. A punter whose betting is mainly on football and the major US sports will get more from DAZN Bet, where the product is broader, or from Bet Ahoy, where the racing product is competitive and the welcome offer is paid in cash.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you bet against paysafecard?

A paysafecard code is a prepaid voucher, and the balance is paid in to a betting account the same way a debit card deposit is paid in. The bet itself is a normal bet: a back bet on a selection, or a lay bet on a betting exchange, paid out at the odds the operator sets. “Betting against” a paysafecard-funded account is the same as betting against any other — the payment method at the cashier does not change the direction of the bet. Where the punter is asking whether the bookmaker takes lay bets at all, that depends on the licence category: a remote betting intermediary licence is the one that covers betting exchanges, and the four brands on this list hold a remote general betting standard licence, not an intermediary one. Back bets only.

Can you lose on paysafecard betting?

Yes. A losing bet loses the stake, and the stake is the paysafecard-funded deposit the punter put into the account. The bookmaker’s margin is built into every price, and the expected loss on a representative bet is roughly the margin of the market being bet on, multiplied by the stake. The margin is not the punter’s guarantee of loss — a single bet can win at long odds — but the long-run expected outcome on a representative sample of bets is the margin. The licensed bookmaker does not have a separate paysafecard-fee or a paysafecard-bias on the prices; the price the punter sees is the same regardless of the deposit method.

Can you use paysafecard in betting shops?

Paysafecard is an online product. The 16-digit code is entered at an online cashier, and the balance is paid into a bookmaker’s account over the internet. Betting shops in Great Britain take cash and, in many cases, debit-card payments at the counter; the shop cashier is a different product. A punter who wants to bet in a shop buys a paysafecard code online or in a store and then redeems it online; the shop and the paysafecard are separate. The self-exclusion scheme that covers betting shops is also separate from GAMSTOP, which covers online sites and apps only.

Which payment methods do GB-licensed bookmakers accept, and are credit cards allowed?

GB-licensed bookmakers accept debit cards, bank transfers, e-wallets (PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Trustly), and prepaid products (paysafecard) at the cashier. The exact list varies by operator. Credit cards are banned for gambling in Great Britain since 14 April 2020, and the ban covers credit-card-funded payments through an e-wallet. A punter who would otherwise have used a credit card and now wants a similar hands-off deposit experience tends to land on paysafecard, a bank-based e-wallet, or an Open Banking product. The cashier page of the specific bookmaker is the only place to see the live list of accepted methods.

From what age can bets be placed in Great Britain, and when is identity verified?

The minimum age is 18. Name, address and date of birth are verified before a customer can deposit or gamble, including with a free bet or a bonus. The check has been in force since 7 May 2019. A licensed bookmaker that lets an unverified punter deposit is breaking its licence conditions, and the Commission can and does act on complaints. The check is one of the licences’ non-negotiable features, alongside GAMSTOP and the 10x bonus cap.

How can it be checked that a bookmaker holds a Gambling Commission licence?

The Commission’s public register is searchable by business name, trading name, domain or account number. The register is the whole test of whether a brand holds a licence; no claim on a homepage or in a marketing email overrides the register. The register lists every licence the Commission has issued, the categories it covers, the trading names and domains the licence is held against, and the status of the licence. A licence in “active” status is the only kind that authorises a bookmaker to take bets from GB customers. A suspended or revoked licence is not a licence.

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