Looking at Casino Payout Fees
Canadians have a large number of ways to withdraw money from betting sites with geography restricting some methods while enabling others. Here are some of the things you need to know about the different Canadian banking options and associated casino payout fees.
Different Sources of Fees
When looking at casino payout fees it's important for Canadian players to note that there are multiple potential sources for fees associated with a given method, at a given Canadian online casino. This is one aspect of a betting site that potential players should look into prior to signing up, as the same withdrawal option could incur higher costs at one place than another.
Fees can also be imposed by third parties, often financial institutions such as banks or e-wallet operators. These are not within the casino's control and will be the same for any betting site you choose to join, but should also be considered when deciding the financial means with which you intend to transfer money into and out of a site (in addition to the speed and security).
We'll go into more detail on specific Canadian payment methods below, but remember that the site you play at will affect the casino payout fees you pay, as well as the specific payment system. In addition, some online casino sites allow a certain amount of free withdrawals in a given time period with casino payout fees applying to anything over this amount.
Major Card Companies
Almost everyone owns in Canada a Visa or Mastercard, and many sites support additional card companies such as American Express. Widespread ownership and betting site accessibility combines with the capacity for both deposits and withdrawals to make major card companies an eminently convenient way to handle money when it comes to betting. Often, there is no fee applied by the site itself. A fee (if applied) charged by a betting site might be in the region of 2-3% for card withdrawals.
E-wallets and Cryptocurrency
E-wallets are a very popular way of depositing and withdrawing money, and may come with instant transfer times and no casino payout fees whatsoever. Canadian players should note that small fees are often imposed by the e-wallet firms themselves, however. In addition, shifting money from a betting site to bank account requires an additional step with this sort of intermediary system, so players need to account for that as well. Most of the time betting sites charge no fee, but if a cost is applied it might be similar to those for cards (2-3%). However, Canadians are unable to use certain e-wallets (Skrill, Neteller) for betting purposes.
Bitcoin (and cryptocurrencies generally) is in some ways similar to e-wallets with casino payout fees, acting as an a way to transfer cash into and out of a site without entering card or bank details. Similarly, transfer times are often instant and fees usually don't apply. One peculiar consideration for Bitcoin casino banking is that cryptocurrency is far more volatile than Canadian currency, which means you can either gain or lose value not only through profits and losses from betting, but also because of the inherent tendency for cryptocurrency to become significantly stronger or weaker in a short space of time.
Interac - the Canadian Only Option
Interac is a slightly odd duck as it's a great system that is very fast, but, at the same time, it's only open to players from Canada. This in turn affects how widely available it is, being less commonplace than cards and e-wallets but still supported at a relatively large number of online betting sites. Because the fees casinos pay to Interac are so small they're hardly ever passed onto players as casino payout fees. However, Canadians may have to pay modest fees from their bank when using Interac as a withdrawal method.
Bank and Wire Transfers in Canada
At the other end of the scale are bank and wire transfers, old-fashioned Canadian options for moving money from betting site to bank account which have numerous drawbacks in terms of casino payout fees. In their favour is a high level of security, which means high rollers still like them. Against that is a slow withdrawal time, and the fact that fees are applied at a higher rate than other methods. These may be flat rather than a percentage, and are often high enough to make the method prohibitively costly for small and medium bettors.
The site can matter as much as the method when it comes to casino payout fees. Always do your research on both to ensure your hard-earned profits don't get a large chunk taken out by fees for Canada.
