Online casino deposit options and the Maestro card

Playing casino games at an online casino should always be regarded as a leisure activity which is likely to cost you money in the long run, just like most other pastimes we enjoy when not at work. This is because all the casino games we play at an online casino have a built-in house edge which will always provide revenue for the online casino operator over time. Here at onlinecasino.ie we can and do advise on which casino games have the lowest house edge and consequently provide our readers with the best chance of winning, but in the end that always depends on luck combined with perhaps a bit of skill for some games. There is however one area where we can offer advice to save you money, and that is the question of how best to fund playing online casino games. The online casinos all offer a wide range of deposit options to their customers, including credit and debit cards, and e-wallets. The most expensive of these options is a credit card because the banks will almost certainly apply a surcharge of up to 2% on any transaction involving gambling, on top of which they will charge interest from day one at credit card rates. Using a debit card is a better option of course because there are no interest charges, but can also sometimes be a problem particularly for Irish holders of a Maestro debit card. Many online casinos are Maestro casinos and accept the Maestro card as a deposit option but Maestro cards are usually processed through the Laser credit card system in Ireland and can therefore incur the same surcharges as a credit card. Clearly using a debit card as an online casino deposit option is better than using a credit card, but if you need to use a Maestro card use it to fund an e-wallet account such as Pay Pal or Neteller, and fund playing your casino games from the e-wallet. It’s cheaper and provides much more privacy.