Know Your Stuff: Casino Withdrawals Still Pending?

Published on 11th May 2015 by Adam

I have worked in the gaming industry for 10 long, wonderful years and have seen and learnt plenty along the way. I’ve seen the industry change, I’ve seen pioneering casinos leading the way and others being left well behind. I thought it was about time I began an online guide to help casino players navigate the complicated world of processes, terms and conditions, wagering and other things that can end up catching you out and leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

Today I’m going to talk about casino winnings and withdrawals.

Withdrawing From Online Casinos

Withdrawing your money should be the easiest thing in the world; it’s yours after all. But unfortunately for the casino, it means you won and some of them can have a hard time giving up those precious pennies even if you, as a player, have done everything by the book. Here is my guide on getting your casino withdrawals as quickly as possible, which payment methods are fastest and which casinos guarantee the quickest payouts.

Verifying Your Account

Firstly, and what lots of players don’t realise, is that before you can withdraw from an online casino you have to verify your account. This is a legal requirement from all regulatory licensing bodies and something the casino has no choice over. They do have power over how complicated they make it and how long it takes though, and many will drag out the process in the hopes that you cancel your withdrawal. Make sure you’re ready and waiting though and you can help to speed this up.

I’ve heard many a player whine “well you were quick enough to take my money!” and yes, you can open an account and play without verifying. But this isn’t actually the casinos being greedy. You have to verify at some point, that is the law, but to put verification before account registration or before deposit, people simply wouldn’t bother to play, so having this step after registering and playing and before withdrawing is actually more convenient for the player and helps the casino ensure they meet their legal requirements.

Verification usually comprises of 3 areas:

• Proof of age/name/identity
• Proof of payment
• Proof of address.

These factors are all in place to protect the casino (so they’re not allowing underage players or fraudsters to play and move money) but also to protect the player (to help prevent identity theft). To verify successfully you’ll usually need to produce 3 documents:

• Passport / National ID card
• Scan of the credit card / screenshot of the e-wallet used to deposit
• Utility bill / Bank Statement / Payslip that is less than 3 months old (usually).

Quick Tip

If you’re a frequent online casino player take a scan or photo of all 3 items and keep it stored on your computer so it’s easy to shoot them off in an email as soon as the casino requests them, or even better, as soon as you open your account.

Withdrawal Stuck on “Pending”

Nowadays, most casinos have realised that the best way to keep a player is to make them happy, not to trick them into playing more. If a casino has an easy to use website, a good range of Netent games, simple to understand promotions and fast withdrawals, you’re much more likely to deposit again in the future and I’ve listed the best casinos for this below for you.

Some casinos however, are way behind the times and still believe the best way to keep a player is to frustrate them into staying. A very old fashioned tactic of online casinos is to hold a players withdrawal on ‘pending’ for a long period of time, so the player gets so bored of waiting that they cancel the withdrawal or ‘roll it back’ and play with it instead.

Others will use other tactics to try and get you to cancel your withdrawal, like dazzling you with promotions. I had this experience with Casino Cruise recently, and I was quite shocked with how they handled it. I made a withdrawal and verified my account, then popped onto their Live Chat just to ask how long withdrawals usually take to get processed. The agent gave me my answer (a disappointing 48 hours) and then proceeded to try and push me to cancel the withdrawal (for them, in the hopes I would lose it!) by attempting to convince me it was the best thing to do.

Crew Member 1: A withdrawal takes 48 hours to process but in the meanwhile I have a great offer for you 🙂
Crew Member 1: If you would like to increase your winnings and make a bigger withdrawal I would like to offer you 15 % guarantee on your potential losses 🙂
You: so you want me to roll back my withdrawal?
Crew Member 1: In order to make a larger one later 🙂

To me, this is way below the belt. I go on just to ask how long until I get my winnings (yay!) and instantly they’re trying to convince me to cancel the withdrawal by insulting my intelligence making it sound like if I cancel now, I’ll definitely make a bigger withdrawal (and still have to wait the extra 48 hours for them to process it!).

Quick Tip

If a casino leaves your withdrawal on pending for more than 24 hours, do not cancel it unless you actually want to. Calmly ask their Live Chat if they can speak to payments to get it sped up (but that’s about all you can do!) then patiently wait for the funds. Once you get them, simply move on to a different casino who will offer you faster withdrawals.

But I’ve Waited Too Long

Some casinos state that withdrawals can take up to 5 days, which is laughable. In these cases all you can do is wait, you’ll get the funds eventually. However, if a casino has kept you waiting longer than their advertised timeframe, that’s not OK. Make sure you get to speak to a manager and let them know this is not acceptable. Be polite though and check my guide on getting great customer service.

Quick Tip

Check the casino’s withdrawal timeframe policy either via their terms and conditions or via their support before opening an account. You can find all this information in each of our casino reviews.

Fastest Payment Methods

Once the withdrawal has been approved and processed by the casino, how long it takes for you to get the money will depend on the payment method used. Some are instant, some take considerably longer, but it all depends what is important to you, which you trust most and where you’re located in the world.

E-Wallets: Instant

I have my ups and downs with Skrill, but they really are the quickest and easiest online payment method for casinos. Some casinos charge for Skrill transactions, others don’t, it really varies. But your deposits are instant and when the casino approves a payment, it’ll be in your Skrill account within moments.

Paypal is equally as effective and I actually find them much more reliable and nicer to use and deal with that Skrill, however for gaming, Paypal is quite limited in which countries can use them.

Credit/Debit Cards: Slow

Card is still the preferred method of payment in almost all online casinos, but in my opinion that’s just because it’s what players are most familiar with. It’s certainly not the best. You will get instant deposits, but withdrawals can take anything from 1 -7 working days, depending on your bank. Maybe even longer for certain countries.

There are loads of other localised types of payments depending on your country and new methods being created all the time, so make sure to check out our casino payments page to see which would be most suitable for your needs.

Fastest Casinos for Withdrawals

There are loads of casinos who are doing things right. They understand that a happy customer is a loyal customer and treat their players with respect, not disdain. These casinos understand that if you pay a player their winnings quickly, they’re much more likely to use them again in the future.

Some casinos with fast withdrawal processing times below. Please note that, as mentioned above, you must verify your account before making your first withdrawal, which can take a little longer. The below times are based on players who have verified their accounts. The timeframes below are within the hours that the payments team are working, so if it’s not a 24-hour team (they rarely are) then withdrawals made late at night are likely to be done first thing in the morning.

Casinoin

The creators of Casinoin have developed a popular and varied online casino that stands out for a number of reasons. One of these is the willingness to embrace new technologies such as cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin offered.

This means that withdrawals can be instant, so any winnings from the strong welcome bonus can be enjoyed without delay.

[casino_custom_toplist casinos=”casinoin”]

---

Videoslots

With its unique Battle of Slots game mode, Videoslots is one of the leading casinos on the market with plenty of winning opportunities.

It is handy, then, that players have a great selection when it comes to payment methods, with the option to process transactions right away.

[casino_custom_toplist casinos=”videoslots-com”]

---

Svenbet

Though Svenbet’s €25 minimum deposit is on the high side, it is a fact that digital wallets are the way to go if you value speedy withdrawals above all else.

And the website has you covered in that area with both Neteller and Skrill available and other popular options to go with the plethora of NetEnt titles.

[casino_custom_toplist casinos=”svenbet”]

---

Vulkan Vegas

As well as the usual suspects Visa and Mastercard, Vulkan Vegas has rapid payment methods on display including Sofort Überweisung.

The German company is one of the quickest choices available for gamblers as well as being completely secure. Though it is only available in 10 countries, this casino has plenty of other withdrawal choices available wherever you are located.

[casino_custom_toplist casinos=”vulkan-vegas”]

18+ | GambleAware | Play responsibly, for advice visit http://begambleaware.org