Gambling users living in Russia have problems making deposits to online casino gaming accounts. Previously, any gamer could easily use Russian bank cards, as well as e-wallet accounts or mobile operator accounts. These were the following payment options:
- MasterCard, Visa, MIR;
- WebMoney, QIWI, Yandex.Money (now YuMoney);
- Top-up from mobile numbers Tele2, MTC, Beeline, MegaFon.
Today everything is a little more complicated...
A small digression
For those who are not aware, it should be recalled that gambling is not prohibited in the Russian Federation, but is seriously limited by Law No. 244-F3. It states that gambling establishments are allowed to operate only in specially designated areas. Today, they are open in Primorye, Altai, Kaliningrad Oblast, and Krasnodar Krai. The law also states that licenses for organizing online casinos are not issued in Russia. All official virtual clubs, including those with interfaces that support the Russian language, operate under licenses issued in other countries. Basically, casinos with documents from the gambling commissions of Curacao and Malta operate in the Russian Federation.
Until recently, gaming platforms easily opened accounts in domestic banks, and payments were disguised as various transactions (for example, to pay for goods in an online store). At the end of last year, strict control over transfers was established. As a result, replenishment of deposits from cards of Russian banks and wallets Qiwi, Yumani, and a little later - from WebMoney were prohibited. Fines are imposed for making such transactions, and some banks even had their licenses revoked. It is also now impossible to pay for a game in a casino from accounts of mobile operators.
How to top up your casino account under the new conditions
In fairness, it should be noted that you can still top up your gaming account using plastic cards today, but this happens in a slightly different way. For the player, everything remains the same, but the "inner workings" of the transfer have changed a lot. To make transactions, gambling sites began to use p2p transfers, which are made between individuals.
The recipient of funds is called a "drop". The player's funds are transferred to him, then they are converted into cryptocurrency, after which the money is sent to the user's gaming account. There they will be presented in the format that everyone is accustomed to: in the form of the casino's own currency or the usual dollars, euros, etc. In some cases, when transferring funds to his account in the club, the gambler sees that the transaction is made in favor of an individual, but the money ultimately ends up on his balance in the casino.
Other options that allow you to replenish your account without problems include cryptocurrency and foreign payment systems. In many modern online casinos, you can play for bitcoins, ethereum, etc. It is also possible to withdraw winnings using cryptocurrency. Among the electronic payment systems available today for making transactions are the following:
- This is a British system, the owner of which also controls another service – Skrill. Neteller provides a low commission for transfers, which is 2.5%.
- A fairly old electronic wallet, operating since 2001. Using Skrill cards, you can withdraw money from any ATM. True, since 2021 the company has stopped issuing cards for Russians, but the existing ones work until the end of the year.
- Perfect Money. The service has been operating since 2007. Its head office is located in Zurich. As in the WebMoney system, you can open several wallets in different currencies (dollars, euros, bitcoins, etc.) on the platform.
These are not all available, but the most popular payment systems that are available for making a deposit in gambling clubs. In order to top up an account in any of these services, you can use a regular plastic card of a Russian bank or one of the many exchange offices that are on the Internet. These are the simplest options for replenishment. Other methods are also possible. For example, a bank SWIFT transfer or replenishment from a mobile phone account through intermediary resources.
