Discover

The Best Casinos Offering Discovery Deposits

As discovery payments become more common to see, they’ll also be increasingly easier to find at different online casinos too – many currently are restricted in certain parts of the world but there are some great options out there including casinos like below.

Lucky Tiger Casino

As a newer casino it’s no surprise to see Discover on offer here as a potential payment offer, however currently only limited to deposits as a separate payment methods will be required for withdrawal – deposits are instant with a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $2,500 and are subject to bonuses too if claimed before depositing.

Shazam Casino

Another new casino that offers Discover as a deposit option but not as a withdrawal option and remains a choice limited for players from certain countries – with a huge number of Realtime Gaming titles to choose from and some great bonuses, this is a great choice for players to use their Discover card.

Wild Casino

Wild is a huge casino that first launched in 2018 and has developed a very strong reputation in that period of time with games from Rival and Betsoft and a wide variety of payment methods on offer too – all players regardless of country will be able to choose Discover as a deposit method with a minimum deposit of $25 and a maximum of $2,500, it is limited to deposits only however.

THE POPULARITY OF DISCOVER CARDS

Discover cards are rare outside of the United States. Most cards with the Discover brand are issued directly by the Discover bank, which only offers credit cards. It is possible to obtain a Discover debit card from a partner bank, but again these are still exceedingly rare even though Discover is the third-largest credit card brand in the United States.

The most recent data was compiled way back in September of 2019, so it is a little out of date by now. At that time, there were fifty-seven million Discover cardholders in the US. Considering that there are only around 240 million adults in the United States, this means that just shy of a quarter (23.75%) of American citizens currently hold a Discover card.

There is one fundamental issue with Discover and online gambling – the use of credit cards to conduct gambling transactions is now illegal in many countries that have fully regulated online gaming markets. The situation in the United States, as we all know, is hugely different – the country is only now slowly opening up to the idea of online gambling. Still, it will be many more years before the entire country has regulated casinos unless the federal government wakes up and does something about it.

SO, CAN I USE MY DISCOVER CARD FOR ONLINE GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES?

So far, all the states who have enacted online gambling legislation have decided not to get involved with restricting or regulating payment methods. That is a common feature of laws created in US states, which will always try and ensure citizens have the freedom to make as many of their own decisions as possible.

Because of this, many online casinos in the US do allow you to deposit using Discover. If the option is not available directly, it is perfectly legal to deposit to an e-wallet such as PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, or Revolut, and then make your payment from there.

Depositing via an e-wallet might actually be your best option, as depositing funds into these wallets is treated as a regular purchase, whereas depositing at an online casino Is regarded as a cash transaction as far as Discover is concerned. That means you will pay a much higher interest rate if you use your Discover card to deposit directly into an online casino compared to making an intermediary payment to an e-wallet first.

CAN I USE MY DISCOVER CARD FOR ONLINE GAMBLING AT OFFSHORE SITES?

The short answer is no – almost every other regulated market in the world has already banned credit card transactions to online casinos. The regulators even require e-wallets to flag deposits made via credit card, so you can’t get around this restriction that way either. Even if you try moving your money between wallets, the flag remains attached to the funds. It does seem as if they have thought of everything – unless you want to pay the fees to deposit, wait for a withdrawal to your bank, pay the fees to deposit the money back into the e-wallet, and then play at the online casino a week later. You’ll probably have forgotten about the whole thing by then!

HISTORY

Sears created the Discover card in 1985. When launched, it offered a much higher credit limit than other cards. The large credit limit, together with a promise that they would never charge an annual fee, was all that was needed to make Discover highly competitive, significantly disrupting America’s existing credit card industry.

After the launch of DIscover, using their cards in an ATM was not possible other than those operated by the Discover Bank (formerly the Greenwood Trust Company). TO solve this problem, they purchased the electronic fund’s transfer service Pulse, which had the added benefit of allowing them to offer Discover debit cards to banks and other financial services companies who wanted to work with somebody other than VISA or Mastercard.

While American Express and Discover have made attempts to diversify their business and operate more like VISA and Mastercard, they charge the retailers who accept their cards a much higher per-transaction fee than the more extensive networks. Because of this, many companies refuse to accept any payments via Discover and American Express credit or debit cards.

WHY HAS DISCOVER FOUND IT SO DIFFICULT TO COMPETE WITH VISA AND MASTERCARD?

Until 2004, Visa & Mastercard operated as a cartel, preventing banks based in the United States (and some other Western countries) from issuing any type of card other than their own. Should a bank choose to break this agreement and begin offering a Discover or American Express credit card, they would lose the right to issue VISA and Mastercard’s credit/debit cards to their customers.

This situation was unfair, and American Express & Discover both sued their larger rivals in the US Courts. The courts ruled that those efforts by Visa and Mastercard – the world’s two biggest credit card companies – to restrict banks and other financial institutions from offering cards on rival networks were anti-competitive and broke antitrust law.

Discover sought $6 billion in damages as part of their suit. Discover settled their case out of court, so the exact figure they received is currently unknown. On the other hand, American Express decided to fight to the end in an epic courtroom battle, which resulted in them receiving $3.9 billion US dollars. It would certainly be interesting to find out if Discover got their $6 billion by settling out of court!

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DISCOVER?

It’s always challenging to make such predictions. The company doesn’t seem too interested in expanding their international operations at this time, although a deal with HSBC allowing them to issue Discover branded credit cards could eventually see Discover start to appear in many more countries outside of North America.

The expansion of online gambling in the United States could turn out to be a massive boon for Discover, too, as they have no problem with people using their cards at any online gaming site that is happy to accept them.

VISA and Mastercard are beginning to clamp down on people using their credit cards for gambling transactions, even in the USA. While some casinos will use tricks such as tagging the transaction as “gaming” rather than “gambling” to avoid any blocks, loopholes like this will always be closed eventually.

HOW TO DEPOSIT USING DISCOVER

First, read the previous section titled “So, can I use my Discover card for online gambling in the United States?” earlier in this article. You should now know that the best way to make a deposit using your Discover card at an online casino is to deposit the money into an e-wallet first and then deposit it to the casino from there.

While this extra step may seem like an unnecessary hassle, it could well save you a significant sum of money depending on how fast you pay off your credit cards.

DEPOSITING VIA DISCOVER DIRECTLY:

If you aren’t concerned with higher charges (and by the way, you should be!), then go ahead and deposit directly to the online casino using your discover card. It should be a case of simply choosing the Discover option, specifying how much you wish to deposit, and then entering your card details. Many online casinos also charge additional fees for processing withdrawals back to credit cards, another expense you can dodge by using an e-wallet!

I always recommend not saving your card details at an online casino – it can be more convenient in the future, as you don’t have to type in your full name, the long card number, and all the rest of the information. However, if you use a modern browser such as Chrome or one of the many browsers based on the Chromium base, such as Brave and Microsoft Edge, you can save your card details into that instead.

If your credit card details are stored on your computer, you can feel sure that the information is secure, even if the casino is subject to an attack by hackers. It is just as fast and convenient as using the casino’s store card function but with far less risk attached. There is effectively no downside to using this feature, so why not make use of it?

DEPOSITING VIA DISCOVER USING AN E-WALLET:

First of all, you’ll need to find an e-wallet service that is available in your country. Many e-wallet companies left the US market after the UIGEA first came into effect way back in 2006. Thankfully, most of these companies have now returned. However, they will only permit gambling transactions to US casinos if you live in a state that already has online gambling legislation in place.

You shouldn’t have any problem depositing at an offshore casino, provided they are regulated and licensed by a reputable body such as the MGA or UKGC.

My favorite of the e-wallet companies at the moment is Revolut, which combines a ton of features into their service while charging exceptionally low fees – for example, transferring funds between my bank account and Revolut is instant and free of charge in both directions. None of the other e-wallets can currently compete with the convenience and flexibility offered by Revolut. They also support several of the largest cryptocurrencies and allow you to transfer funds between Crypto and Fiat directly from your Revolut account.

Opening your e-wallet will require some basic KYC, such as taking a picture of your passport and a selfie. Revolut checks these very quickly – for me, it was less than ten minutes – and once you have opened your e-wallet, you don’t need to wait for your card to be delivered before you can deposit and get ready to start playing.

Many online casinos will have the option to deposit directly via Revolut as one of their payment options, in addition to their competitors, including PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller.

With Revolut, it doesn’t even matter if your favorite casino doesn’t have a Revolut option. The company gives you a virtual card immediately after opening your account, which you can use to make a deposit using the casino’s Credit/Debit card option. All you need to do is open the Revolut app on your phone and make a deposit using your Discover card. You can now browse to your Revolut virtual card and use the details shown on the screen to complete your deposit.

HOW TO MAKE A WITHDRAWAL USING DISCOVER

Withdrawing should be just as easy as making a deposit, but that is not how things work in online casino land. If you want to make sure your first withdrawal goes as smoothly as possible, contact casino support as soon as you finish registering your new account.

Ask them how you go about submitting your documents for KYC, as they too will want a copy of your ID – either a government-issued ID card, a passport, or a driver’s license – as well as proof of your address, they often require things such as a players social security number and other forms of identification too. Some casinos might ask for other documents or pictures too, much if this is explained during the sign-up process however and often is exceptionally common sense.

I’ve had requests to take a picture while holding my passport at the side of my head. I’ve also been asked to take a picture of my debit/credit card with some numbers obscured. Screenshots of me logged into my e-wallets are another common type of request. It varies everywhere you go, which is why it is best to get all this sorted before you even begin to play.

Fingers crossed, the casino will check and verify your KYC documents before you have finished your gaming session, and you will be able to request a withdrawal straight away without any delays. You can ask the casino support rep how long it usually takes them to check a customer’s documents to get an idea if you are looking at minutes, hours, or days. If it takes days, I’ll often pick another casino to play at that night and return to the previous one once they have completed their KYC procedure.

If you deposited directly using your Discover card, your withdrawal will be processed as a refund in just the same way as it would be if you had purchased an item in a store with your credit card and then taken it back. As I briefly mentioned in the deposit section, there are sometimes fees attached to credit card withdrawals, so watch out for that. I have seen fees as high as 4% + $5 at some online casinos, making it pretty much pointless to play with anything less than $50-$100. The withdrawal will usually take between 3-5 business days to reach your Discover card.

If you followed my advice and deposited to an e-wallet, you will benefit from many advantages when making a withdrawal. First of all, there are usually no fees for e-wallet withdrawals unless you make lots of them in a single day.

Secondly, withdrawals to e-wallets are usually processed exceptionally quickly. Suppose you have a verified account with all KYC checks completed. In that case, some casinos will send the money automatically and instantly, meaning the cash will hit your e-wallet account the moment you hit the “Withdraw” button. From there, you are free to spend your winnings using your e-wallet card (every e-wallet apart from PayPal offers a pre-paid card alongside their service) or withdraw the funds to your bank account.

Paypal and Revolut process bank transactions instantly, whereas Skrill and Neteller can sometimes take several days. I have noticed an improvement in this area over the past year or two – Skrill seems to be processing bank withdrawal requests within 2 hours during business hours. Still, if you make your request at 1 am, you will almost certainly be waiting until the morning, unlike with PayPal or Revolut.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT IS THE DISCOVER CREDIT CARD?

Discover is one of the four leading credit card providers worldwide, accepted at many US dollar casinos accepting US players – it allows users to balance transfers between major banking societies and payment methods.

ARE USD DEPOSITS FREE AT DISCOVER CASINOS ONLINE?

Discover does not charge a transaction fee to deposit to an online casino player account unless a foreign exchange fee applies. Although uncommon, some online casinos may charge a deposit fee on credit cards, like Discover.

WHAT DO I DO IF AN ONLINE CASINO DOES NOT ACCEPT DISCOVER DEPOSITS?

If an online casino accepts e-wallets (like PayPal), it may be possible to top-up your e-wallet balance using a Discover card. The disadvantage to this workaround is that your e-wallet provider may charge a fee.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE MIN/MAX DEPOSIT LIMITS AT AN ONLINE CASINO?

To determine the minimum and maximum deposit amounts to a Discover casino, check the payments section of the operator or the cashier section.

DO I QUALIFY FOR A CASINO BONUS WHEN MAKING A USD DEPOSIT WITH A DISCOVER CARD?

In general, Discover deposits qualify for casino bonuses and other promotions.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF A DISCOVER CARD DEPOSIT?

USD deposits using a Discover card are instantaneous, secure, typically free, and safe. There are often bonuses for new purchases that allow users to earn cash or additional bonus rewards too.