One major issue has plagued the history of online casino gambling in Canada, how do Canadians get their real money into a casino so they can play? Although gambling at online casinos is technically legal in Canada, it does have significant legal issues, it is those issues that have made casino banking a serious issue. Interac has solved those issues with the help of Gigadat Solutions Inc, and Interac online and e-transfer have now become the gold standard of online casino payments.
Before the early 2000s, Canadians could use their credit cards to play at online casinos, poker sites, and sportsbooks. Visa and Mastercard, as well as the major banks, put an end to it, and Canadian gamblers had to find new ways to keep playing online. Neteller and Skrill (Moneybookers) were already established on a internationally to handle these types of transactions, and they quickly became the preferred banking methods at online casinos.
Legal Problems affecting Online Casino Payment Processors
Neteller and Skrill have been dealing with legal issues since 2007. The US Senate passed a bill in September 2006 making online gambling illegal in the United States. In 2007, the US government charged Neteller and ESI, a Canadian payments provider, with illegally processing online gaming transactions. As a result, there has been an avalanche of legal issues in the industry. Calvin Ayre, the notorious Canadian online gambling tycoon, was also on the run at the time and ended up leaving his Bodog-related assets to Kahnawake Gaming, which is located on the Kahnawake reserve outside of Montreal.
This brings us back to Canada where Neteller and Skrill also operated. Although no law banning internet gambling has ever been passed in Canada, the gray area left too much open to interpretation. Online casinos, such as Play OLG casino, may only be approved by provincial governments, and the most popular in Canada are all licensed in overseas jurisdictions such as Malta. The question of legality therefore becomes one of jurisdiction, as the Canadian government is unable to prosecute foreign corporations under the Criminal Code of Canada.
The only possibility of being prosecuted comes if the company related to online gambling has any physical presence in Canada. Because Neteller and Skrill both have physical locations in Canada, they eventually decided that the risk was too high to continue doing business there.
Explosion of New Canadian Casino Banking Methods
Many other payment providers have come and gone from the online casino banking sphere in the intervening years. Companies such as ecoPayz, iDebit, and Instadebit have recently begun to advertise e-wallets. PayPal has never joined the online gambling business, and Apple Pay has only recently begun to be accepted.
Prepaid cards are a popular alternative for many Canadians to deposit real money at online casinos instead of using payment processors. Most online casinos in Canada accept Paysafe, Neosurf, and Flexepin as payment methods. These cards are available at corner stores and gas stations but can only be used to deposit money. If a player wants to get paid, they’ll need to use another withdrawal method, which is usually a bank wire or a cheque in the mail.
Why Interac Online and e-Transfer Became So Popular
This is where Interac has become a groundbreaking revelation for online casino players. Interac is Canada’s most well-known and widely used payment processor. It is the most trusted financial services brand in Canada, according to the Gustavson Brand Trust Index from the University of Victoria. Interac e-Transfer is a service that every Canadian with a bank account is familiar with. Some of the major banks and credit unions also offer Interac Online.
Just over two years ago, the first online casinos began accepting Interac online as a deposit method for Canadian players. LeoVegas was one of the first online casinos to provide Interac, but within a year, every serious online casino brand in the Canada was offering Interac.
Gigadat Solutions Inc., a third-party payment processor, was responsible for bringing this partnership together. They specialize in online gaming, gambling, and casinos and provide a service that connects Canadian banks with merchants. They’ve also teamed up with MiFinity to offer their payment method in Canada, leveraging Interac’s vast customer reach.
The Difference Between Interac Online and e-Transfer
Because of the broad reach of the banking method and its ease of use, Interac online casinos have become quite popular. There are two main sorts of online casinos, according to Canadian online casino banking specialists realcasinos.ca: Interac Online casinos and e-Transfer casinos. Interac Online is a direct banking method that transfers funds directly to the casino via Gigadat, a third-party processor that electronically connects the two parties. E-transfer on the other hand is processed by the financial institution. Gigadat continues to give the essential information to complete the transaction and is a part of the electronic funds transfer.
Interac Online and e-Transfer have some significant differences. Deposits can be made using either casino banking method, but withdrawals can only be made through e-Transfer. Only a few financial institutions, including RBC Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust, and First Nations Bank, provide Interac Online. Effectively, if the debit card is linked to a Visa or Mastercard account, Interac Online will not be linked to that account. Interac e-Transfer is available at all banks and credit unions in Canada. E-Transfers also take more time to process whereas Interac Online deposits are instant.
In 2021, Canadians appear to have a stable, secure, and widely available casino banking method to use at online casinos after nearly two decades. Interac and Gigadat Solutions, the corporations that control the method, are both Canadian and will not leave the market unless it is regulated.
