Credit card casinos are commonplace across the US. Some offer real money slots and tables, while others offer freeplay games powered by virtual currencies called Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins, where you can
opt
to purchase more additional Gold Coins using VISA, MasterCard and the like.
In today’s guide, we’re going to be talking about
both
real money gaming sites and virtual coin powered sweepstakes casinos that support credit cards. We’ll explore how such sites work, payments wise, and introduce you to 7 of the best credit card friendly casino sites on the US market right now.
To choose the absolute
best casino sites
that support Credit Cards you’d need to do research and cross analysis. To help you narrow down your choices, we highlighted the top 3 legal online casinos in the US that support Credit Card deposits and withdrawals.
BetMGM is currently one of the best credit card casinos on the US market for a number of reasons. The site supports VISA, MasterCard and Amex on deposits, and offers instant processing with all three. Unusually, VISA and MasterCard credit card withdrawals are supported in some states too, and usually processed in just 3 business days or less.
New players here can claim a generous 100% up to $1,000 matched deposit bonus, which comes alongside a $25 bonus. And once you’ve registered, you’ll gain instant access to exciting slots and table games powered by the likes of Pragmatic Play and NetEnt, as well as regular six-figure jackpot tournaments.
Caesars Casino
Borgata Casino
Borgata is another popular online casino that supports credit cards. VISA, MasterCard, and Amex are all available for deposits, but you’ll need to switch to an e-wallet, online banking, or a prepaid card when requesting a cash-out.
Unlike other online casinos accepting credit cards, Borgata stands out from the crowd by offering a rather extensive lineup of live casino games, where you can sit across from actual IRL dealers. The brand’s website is wonderfully simple to navigate and use, and there’s a 100% up to $500 matched deposit bonus.
Best Credit Card Sweepstakes Casinos
Although hundreds of sweepstakes casinos offer credit card purchases, there are a handful of sweepstakes
casinos with MasterCard
and Visa credit cards that stand out from the crowd. Below, we highlight the top sweepstakes casinos for credit cards.
If you like having tons of games at your fingertips but live in a US state where real money gambling isn’t permitted, you might want to check out Stake.us. With more than 2,000 different games up for grabs, Stake.us is one of our favorite virtual coin-powered sweepstakes casinos right now.
You can play all the above using either just for fun Gold Coins (SC) or upper-tier Stake Cash (SC), the latter of which has a prize redeemable value in the real world.
Real Prize Casino
100,000 GC and 2 SC welcome package
Mobile-friendly website
Secure transactions
Video poker games available
Unavailable in 5 US states
Visit Real Prize
Credit card casinos in the sweepstakes world compete tooth and nail over their bonuses, and an immediate sign-up package of 100,000 Gold Coins (GC) and 2 free Sweeps Coins (SC), plus a 1,000 VIP Point boost on your first purchase. Like all sweepstakes casinos, RealPrize is completely free to play at, but it offers optional GC packages that you can purchase if you ever fancy topping up your balance.
When you’re ready to buy, RealPrize primarily supports Visa and Mastercard for secure credit card transactions. Once your account is funded, you can use your GC and any free promotional SC to explore a rapidly growing library of over 700 different games, which now includes top-tier slots from providers like NetEnt and Relax Gaming, alongside exclusive live dealer titles.
McLuck Casino
Generous bonuses
Loads of games to enjoy
Dedicated mobile app
Easy-to-navigate website
Sign up bonus could be better
McLuck’s sweepstakes credit card casino GC purchase options expand beyond Visa and Mastercard to also include Discover, alongside mobile-friendly wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. But just as with Stake.us and RealPrize, there’s no purchase requirement to play here if you’d rather stick to freeplay.
Players can also opt-in to the site-wide McJackpots, where any spin could potentially trigger a slice of a multi-tier progressive prize pool. On registration, the site’s standard no-purchase welcome bonus instantly grants 7,500 GC and 2.5 to 5 free SC depending on current promos, letting you dive right in before checking out their competitive daily reloads and credit card purchase deals.
WOW Vegas Casino
Huge welcome bonus
Multi tier VIP program
Choose from over 1000 titles
No dedicated app
Visit Wow Vegas
WOW Vegas offers fast-loading slots games from big names like 3 Oaks and NetGaming, alongside megaways, jackpots, and tons of other fun fruit machine-inspired games. On registration, it’s possible to unlock 250,000 GC-style WOW Coins and 5 SC for free.
Elsewhere, there are tons of great WOW Coins purchase offers that fully support major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. For example, there’s a first purchase bonus where new players can use their credit card to unlock 1.5 million WOW Coins and a free 30 SC bonus by spending just $9.99.
Pros and Cons of Using Credit Card at Casinos
Credit Card Payment: Pros and Cons
Speedy and secure
Deposit cash or purchase GC instantly
Very widely accepted
Credit card withdrawals aren’t always available
SC redemptions aren’t always supported
Making a Payment with Credit Card at Casinos
When using your credit card at an online casino, what you can and can’t do with it will ultimately depend on what kind of gaming site you’re playing at.
For example, in states where real money gaming is permitted, you can use VISA at online casinos like BetMGM, Borgata and Caesars to make a deposit into your account. Here’s how this generally works:
Head to your online casino’s “Deposits” page.
Select credit card as your preferred payment option.
Make a deposit above the minimum amount – which will usually be $10 or $20.
Wait for the transaction to clear.
Start playing.
Meanwhile, credit cards at casinos in the sweepstakes world work a little differently. When playing on virtual coin based sites like Stake.us and McLuck, you’ll instead be able to use your card to make strictly optional GC purchases. Which works as follows:
Locate your sweeps site’s “Purchases” page.
Select a GC package, then pick your preferred credit card as your payment option.
Purchase the bundle to unlock however many GC are advertised. You might sometimes also get a bonus SC bonus.
Of course, it’s worth remembering that all sweeps sites run on a “no purchase necessary” basis, meaning there’s no obligation to buy anything at all if you don’t want to.
How Deposits and Withdrawals Work at Casinos with Credit Cards
Credit card deposits made at real money gaming sites are usually processed in just a few minutes. It’s a similar story if you’re playing at a sweepstakes casino instead – using VISA or MasterCard to buy an optional GC package will typically see you get your GC instantly; sometimes with a free SC bonus.
But What About Withdrawals?
Well, one of the major downsides of using credit cards at casinos that accept real money plays is that, generally speaking,
most
US casinos simply won’t offer credit cards as withdrawal options. This is true with Caesars and Borgata at the time of writing, for example. What’s more, in rare cases where credit card withdrawals
are
supported, such as with BetMGM, it’s likely you’ll have to wait up to 3 business days to get your hands on your winnings.
Meanwhile, for those of you playing with a virtual coin based sweepstakes casino instead, it’s equally unlikely sites like RealPrize or WOW Vegas will let you redeem your SC winnings for cash prizes using a credit card. Nine times out of ten, sweepstakes casinos only support bank transfer for SC cash prize redemptions. Though occasionally, e-wallets like Skrill might be offered as alternatives.
All igaming sites have an obligation to verify you and your identity before you start playing.
This is true among both real money and sweepstakes casinos. Usually, you’ll need to complete Know Your Customer (KYC) checks with the former before making any deposits or cashing out, and with the latter before using your credit card to fuel your first optional GC purchase.
The kinds of documents typically requested from would be players, include:
Government issued ID
– think a passport or a US driver’s license that’ll confirm your name, DOB and state.
Proof of address
– oftentimes, recent phone or utility bills will suffice here.
Generally, verification at credit card casinos doesn’t take long. Once you’ve gathered together and submitted the required documents,
most
online and sweepstakes casinos will be able to check and approve them within 72 hours or less.
The History of Credit Card Casinos
Credit cards themselves are, of course, as old as the hills. With MasterCard, for example, being founded as far back as 1979. And as for online casinos accepting credit cards, well… They’ve
pretty much
been a thing since the birth of online gaming.
Here’s a few milestones you may (or may not) be interested in:
1979
MasterCard is invented by the Interbank Card Association as part of a collaboration with Master Charge.
1980s
Brick and mortar casino resorts in Las Vegas and Atlantic City begin experimenting with accepting credit cards.
1994
The market’s first online casinos begin to emerge – some of which start accepting credit cards from day one.
2006
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is passed, and many US banks begin prohibiting and blocking gambling related credit card transactions.
2010s
As real money online casinos start to be legalized in the likes of NJ, PA and MI, credit card deposit (and
occasionally,
withdrawal) options start to become normalized across the industry again.
Present day
As of now, BetMGM, Caesars and Borgata all gladly accept credit card deposits, as do many other online casinos. Meanwhile virtual coin powered sweepstakes casinos, which first emerged as real money gaming alternatives in states where traditional casinos remain off limits, frequently accept credit cards on optional GC purchases.
Online Casinos with Credit Cards Compared to Other Providers
Credit cards are one of the most widely accepted
casino deposit methods
around. Here’s how using them compares to other popular payment options:
Credit Cards vs E-Wallets 💳
Generally speaking, credit cards are much more widely supported than e-wallets among casinos in the US. That said, as we’ve seen, credit cards aren’t always offered on withdrawals, and might also be slower than, say, PayPal, Skrill or other e-wallets, in the rare instances that they are.
Credit Cards vs Bank Transfers 💵
Using a VISA or
Discover card at online casinos
tends to be much faster than bank transfer on average, and this applies to both deposits and withdrawals. In states where real money gaming isn’t permitted, however, bank transfer is very often the one and only option available on SC prize redemptions, meaning you won’t usually be able to redeem any SC for cash prizes directly to your credit card.
Three Essential Facts About Using Credit Cards at Casinos
Before Iwewrap things up, here are three important takeaways from today’s guide:
One
Credit cards are super widely supported by
both
real money and sweepstakes casinos.
Two
On real money gaming sites, credit cards are primarily used for
making deposits.
At virtual coin based sweepstakes casinos, they’re used for
purchasing optional GC packages.
Three
Credit cards are very rarely offered as an online casino withdrawal option in the US.
It’s also unlikely you’ll see VISA, MasterCard or Amex offered as an SC cash prize redemption option at sweepstakes casinos, either.
Conclusion – Credit Card Casinos Come with Their Inevitable Pros and Cons
By and large, credit cards are a great option when playing at real money online casinos like Borgata, BetMGM and Caesars, on account of the fast deposit times offered, and the fact that major cards like VISA and Mastercard are just so widely accepted.
It’s a similar story when playing at virtual coin powered sweepstakes casinos, too – while upfront purchases are never necessary with the likes of Stake.us, WOW Vegas, McLuck and RealPrize, credit cards tend to be supported on
optional
GC purchases 99.9% of the time. And such purchases are usually processed instantly, too, even if SC prize redemptions to credit cards aren’t supported.
The best credit card friendly gaming sites in the US right now are those mentioned above. And you can register with any one of them today using our banner links on this page – so long as you’re based in an eligible state, of course.
Credit Card Casinos FAQs
Yes. But obviously, you’ll need to check any casino sites you’re thinking of playing with are legally available in your region – which will mean looking out for local, state level licenses if you want to play for real money.
Ordinarily, most real money and sweepstakes casinos won’t charge you fees directly. However, you’ll need to check with your card provider whether fees are charged at their end.
In some cases, banks and credit card providers may still block gambling related transactions in the US. If this happens to you, it’ll most likely be down to your bank and not the casino – so, reach out to your bank directly to try and resolve the issue.
