CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS
Credit/debit card is the most used payment method nowadays in any type of service or transaction (paying bills, receiving your salary, shopping, online shopping etc.) and also in online betting. If at the beginning of the online betting industry there weren't available such complex and secure online payment systems and not all banks had online banking services, now most credit or debit cards can be easily used for online transactions.
First of all, let's find out what the differences between a credit card and a debit card are. A credit card is a type of a card that a customer can use attached to a revolving account or a line of credit (up to a certain limit) in order to buy things, withdraw money or make online transactions. In other words, the customer doesn't have money, he practically takes money from the bank that needs to be reimbursed (along with an interest charged by the bank) at a later date. On the other hand, a debit card is a card attached to the customer's bank account where he has money (he deposits money, he receives salary etc.). More exactly, when using a debit card, a customer makes online transactions, buys things with money from his bank account.
Banks offer many types of debit cards , but the most popular ones are: Maestro, VISA and Mastercard. From these 3, VISA (VISA Electron) is by far the most used and accepted type of a debit card by online bookmakers. Almost any VISA card will be accepted for making online payments to a bookmaker or withdrawing money from a bookmaker.
Mastercard is also a type of a card accepted by most online betting sites, but it has a big disadvantage compared to VISA: it can be used only for deposits, not for withdrawals from an online bookmaker, therefore you will be able to withdraw your winnings only via a bank transfer.
Maestro, unlike VISA and Mastercard, is not accepted by all online bookmakers or it can't be used for online transactions. In order to find out if a Maestro card can be used online you can contact the card's issuing bank or check the back side of your credit card (if it doesn't have the security number, CVC, then it definitely can't be used online).
Apart from the standard credit/debit cards, there are also available many types of prepaid cards which can have a specific amount of money (you pay 100 EUR for a prepaid card with a balance of 100 EUR) or it can be attached to an account (not a bank account). For example, both Neteller and Moneybookers (Skrill) can offer Mastercard prepaid cards to their customers, meaning that a customer will be able to use the card to withdraw and spend the money from the Neteller or the Moneybookers account.
Most people are still afraid of using a credit/debit card for online transactions, but this doesn't need to be a concern anymore because nowadays there are excellent security systems which require authorization, the websites also have SSL systems to encrypt the data and many other fraud-preventing tools. Using a credit/debit card online to make a purchase from a well-known and secure website or to make a deposit to a very popular online bookmaker (such as Bet365, William Hill, Paddy Power, Unibet) won't bring any risk.
You may also want to read the following:
Depositing to an online bookmaker
Withdrawing from an online bookmaker
Skrill
