Paysafecard in Swiss Casinos

After years of refusing to do it, Switzerland finally legalized online gambling a few years back. Swiss casino players now not only have access to already well-established land-based casinos but also can play their favorite games online. And what better method to use than the one and only, the most popular, Paysafecard prepaid card? This is a card offered across most national and international online casinos, allowing players to make the smoothest and safest transactions to fund their online gambling time. Plus, it is a particularly popular choice among Swiss players. Why choose to use Paysafecard across Swiss online casinos?

Online Gambling Regulation in Switzerland

Switzerland is one of those countries that, while it had land-based gambling regulated for over two decades, with formal legislation put in effect in 2000, was really against online gambling. Considering it is one of the most prosperous and wealthiest, countries with the best economy in the world, it wanted to keep the revenue coming from land-based casinos and was not so eager to expand its horizons and include internet gambling in its offering.

With over 20 casinos operating in St. Mortiz, Zurich, Baden, Bern, Lucerne, and Basel, to name a few cantons, the country was enjoying a rich gambling history, governed by the Federal Act on Lotteries and Commercial Betting (SLA) and Federal Act on Games of Chance and Casinos (FCA). But as of January 2019, the country regulated all gambling activities, both land-based and online, with one single law, the Money Gambling Act (MGA).

With that, the country legalized online gambling, controlled by the Federal Gaming Commission, the Intercantonal Betting Board, and the Swiss Federal Gaming Board. The only thing is, that the MGA stipulated that only existing holders of a land-based casino license can also offer online games to players. Internet service providers blocked all offshore sites trying to enter the now-regulated Swiss market. So, no foreign operators are allowed to enter the Swiss market as the country wants to keep things in-house.

The official Swiss market launch was on the 1^st of July, 2019. All operators that already had land-based operations in place in the country were allowed to obtain a license to offer online games, and plenty of online software developers also applied for a license to offer their titles on the market. Among them, we can mention Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play, SYNOT, Spinomenal and Play’n GO.

That means that Swiss online casino players are today able to enjoy all kinds of slots, Live Casino, table games and other instant-win games at any licensed online casino. Even though their access to foreign sites is blocked, they can still enjoy world-class games provided by leading developers. But that's for their own good since licensed sites provide the proper player protection, the best local and global payment methods for the safest transactions and so much more.

Speaking of the best payment methods offered across Swiss casinos, if you wish to enjoy seamless deposits and withdrawals, you better check out Paysafecard. This is a prepaid card launched in Switzerland’s neighboring country, Austria, which is a quite popular solution in Europe. It is quite popular with Swiss players, due to its nature, particularly with those who wish to keep important banking and personal details away from online operators. So, if it sounds like a solution you'd like to try using, continue reading to figure out how!

Using Paysafecard Across Swiss Online Casinos

When in doubt about which prepaid card to use across Swiss casinos, always choose Paysafecard. This is one of the hottest prepaid cards all over Europe, with over 650,000 selling points known as PayPoints across the continent. It is offered by a Vienna-based payment processing firm called PaySafe, one of the most powerful European financial companies.

Serving millions of users all over the world, this is a card that has been in circulation for over two decades. As such, it can be purchased both online and offline, at supermarkets, gas stations, stores and shops, and online platforms. Thanks to its wide availability, its popularity increases every day and its user base gets bigger and bigger each year.

Its strongest suit is the fact that when using it, you never share any personal or banking details. That’s why it is particularly convenient for online casino deposits and withdrawals. Yes, that’s right, you can even make withdrawals with it, but we’ll go into that more later. For now, you should know that since it is accepted in more than 40 countries, it offers various card types to cater to all of its users. There’s the online-only Mypaysafecard, useful to users outside Europe, there’s the regular, and the reloadable card launched in collaboration with the globally-recognized card brand, MasterCard.

Regardless of the card type you choose to use, you can rest assured that you'll receive impeccable service. Most Swiss online casino players go for the regular card, since it is easy to purchase, on your way home or to work, with PayPoints available in every corner of the street. If you opt for this one, you should know that it comes in denominations of ₣25, ₣75 and ₣150. You can purchase it using cash or credit card, bank transfer, whichever option is provided by the PayPoint. If you opt for the MasterCard one, you'd need to visit a financial institution or bank authorized to issue MasterCard cards and purchase your prepaid card with any of the payment options offered, cash, credit card, you name it. The online-only one is pretty self-explanatory and has to be purchased at an authorized platform that sells Paysafecard cards, using any of the payment methods offered.

Once you’ve paid for the regular and online-only card, you’ll receive a 16-digit PIN code, needed for transactions with your card. With the MasterCard card, you'll receive a physical card, just like any credit/debit card, containing the card number, expiry date, and your name, which you’ll need to provide upon deposits/withdrawals.

On that note, let’s review the actual steps you need to make when using the prepaid card for funding your online casino account and cashing out winnings from it. As a side note, the withdrawal functionality, otherwise known as Payout for Paysafecard Account Customers, is not an option in all countries that offer the card; luckily, it is an option in Switzerland. So, you’re good to go; let’s check next what you need to do to start using the solution across Swiss online casinos.

Deposits and Withdrawals with Paysafecard

Even though you won’t find hundreds of online casinos currently operating in Switzerland, since operators have to have land-based operations in place in order to get a license to offer online games, most of the ones that are operating online, offer Paysafecard. You can rest assured that you’ll have many decent candidates to consider and explore in the hopes of finding the one for you to join. The solution is incredibly popular across both global and local casinos, and Swiss citizens were already using it quite a lot, even before online gambling was legal in the country. Operators, seeing its popularity among Swiss citizens, made sure to include it in their offering, to allow their players to enjoy smooth online casino transactions in Swiss francs.

Any licensed Swiss online casino would do, really, so just do a quick search and choose your winner. Next, you’d need to register an account with it, providing basic personal details. To make a deposit with the prepaid card, do the following:

1. Head over to your chosen casino’s Banking/Cashier page and look for Paysafecard’s logo in the Deposits section.
2. Press the logo and a pop-up will appear.
3. Enter the 16-digit PIN if using the regular/online-only card, or the card details if using the MasterCard prepaid card.
4. Confirm the transfer and you’ll see the money appearing on your online casino balance in an instant.

As mentioned already, withdrawals are an option with Paysafecard, contrary to popular opinion. Thanks to the Payout for Account Customer functionality, you can request a money withdrawal and have the casino send your winnings to your card in no time. The withdrawal procedure is quite similar, but you'd need to specify how much you wish to cash out this time. As soon as the casino finishes the procedure on its part, the money will arrive in your account.

Conclusion

Paysafecard is certainly an incredible deposit and withdrawal payment method to use as a Swiss player. It is accepted across many Swiss casinos, it is easy to get started with and widely accessible, and it can be purchased and used in Swiss francs, so you'll avoid unnecessary conversion fees that come with other global payment methods. The first chance you get, make sure you give it a try, and you'll absolutely love the service it offers.