Credit Card

Depositing Online Using your Credit Card

The use of Credit Cards has become such an iconic form of payment in the 21st century that it is really hard to think of life without them. Even with the rise of more modern digital payment solutions such as Skrill, Bitcoin, and Apple Pay, the simplicity, convenience, and sheer habit created over many decades of use, have made the credit card seemingly indispensable, not to mention the very real fact that most digital payment options today require some sort of initial credit card deposit to get started.

What Is A Credit Card?

A credit card is a physical card issued by a financial service provider or bank. The card itself is worthless, however, its function enables the holder the ability to purchase goods and services, either online or in-store using pre-approved credit.

Buying on “credit” essentially allows you to make a payment for something you require now, without you needing to have the physical cash or funds available in your own capacity. The bank will provide the merchant with the guarantee of funds for the goods or service you have purchased, and allow you the opportunity to pay back the money to the bank with interest over a period of time. In simplest terms, a credit card is essentially a loan.

History of Credit Cards

In the many years since its first existence, it’s hard to believe that a world without credit cards ever existed. So how did credit cards become so ubiquitous?

Well, it starts as far back as 1887 when the words “credit card” were mentioned by Edward Bellamy in his novel “looking back”. The novel spoke about a time traveler exploring a utopian future, and in it, he imagined using a “credit card.” Bellamy’s idea, however, now that things have progressed since then, is more likened to that of a modern-day debit card as opposed to a credit card.

As time went by it was really thanks to the patrons of upscale department stores for helping progress the concept of credit for us all. These patrons simply grew tired of carrying cash, so to limit this they would simply have their purchases recorded in the department store’s ledger book, they would then pay it off over time. Naturally, this quickly became problematic, as stores grew in size and locations, recognizing customers and trusting them to pay wasn’t quite as a reliable method as it was originally.

Department stores quickly found a solution to this challenge by issuing a means of identification, which consisted of the name of the store, and perhaps a number to confirm you were who you said you were. These credit indicators were only good at one store, but they were really the beginning of consumer credit in the way we think of it today.

Towards the late 19th century the “charge coin” was introduced. The charge coin carried with it a unique number, as well as the merchant’s name and logo from where it was given, the customer would then use this coin to copy a charge account number to the sales slip, by imprinting the coin onto the sales slip. 

What has to be one the closest remnants of any type of modern-day credit card had to be those created in the travel space. What this entailed was essentially a simplified numbering scheme that identified the issuer of the card as well as the customer account. With an Air Travel Card, passengers could “buy now, and pay later” for a ticket against their credit and receive a fifteen percent discount at any of the accepting airlines. 

In 1950, a gentleman by the name of Frank McNamara forgot his wallet and couldn’t pay for a business dinner. He proposed the idea of a small cardboard card, which members could use like a charge card and pay the bill in full every month, this sparked the birth of The Diners Club, and with it, the first general all-purpose credit card was created through the consolidation of multiple individual merchant cards.

Since the launch of the popular Diners CLub card, it was Bank of America who was next out of the gate in 1958. They essentially mailed unsolicited BankAmericard credit cards to select California markets.

In 1966, BankAmericard went national to become the nation’s first licensed general-purpose credit card. It would be renamed Visa a decade later to acknowledge its growing international presence.

Also in 1966, a group of California banks formed the Interbank Card Association (ITC), which would soon issue the nation’s second major bank card, Mastercard.

The ’80s and ’90s saw several major evolutions to the way credit cards functioned, starting with the move from the classic magnetic strip to the first smart chip-enabled credit card. It was Europay, Mastercard, and Visa who originally co-published the standard smart chip specs for these new-aged cards, called EMV chips. The chip-enabled cards came with the advantage of using encrypted communication rather than relying on an unencrypted magnetic stripe that was easy to read and copy.

2010 was another defining year for the credit card industry, this time it was Barclay and Orange who partnered up to launch a contactless payment card. This technology allowed you to completely transact by simply tapping your card with a compatible card machine, the technology was revolutionary and still grows in popularity to this day.

The final evolution of the credit card comes thanks to none other than the team over at Apple. The introduction of Apple Pay enabled consumers the opportunity to load their credit cards onto a virtual wallet, which would then allow them to make payments without the need for a physical card. Google of course soon followed suit with their own version called “Google pay”.

How Do Credit Cards Work?

A credit card can be a huge advantage to you if used correctly, so making sure you understand how they work is very important.

We’ve established that credit cards offer you a line of credit that can be used to make purchases, balance transfers, and/or cash advances and requiring that you pay back the loan amount in the future, but how is the amount loaned to you originally determined

When applying for a credit card, the organization issuing the card will first need to establish two important things about you: 1. are you creditworthy? – in other words, do you have a good track history with managing and paying back credit, and 2. How much credit can you actually afford to be given?

Based on these two criteria and several others, the issuer of the card will ask you to supply several documents, the most important of which is a 3-month payslip, this essentially outlines how much you can afford to pay back each month after your expenses have been taken into consideration.

Once the issuer gets an indication of your income and expenses, as well as your credit status, they will then determine how much credit to offer you, simultaneously they will also communicate to you the interest rate and the terms for which the credit will be provided, you will then have the choice as to whether you want to take the credit or not.

One of the most important things to know when using a credit card is that you only need to pay back what you spend plus the interest owing on that amount, not the full credit value given to you. What we mean by this is, if your credit amount issued to you is R15,000, but you only spend R8,000, the amount + interest you need to pay back is worked off of the R8,000, not the full amount of R15,000

On the amount you spend, you will be given the choice on how you would like to pay that money back, either you can pay it using what is known as “the minimal payment”, which is essentially around 5% of the outstanding amount due each month, the alternative is to pay back the full amount at the end of the month.

The difference between these two is the interest owed. When your credit card is issued you are also given an interest rate on the amount, this means that each month you will need to pay back the amount you have spent + the interest that is attached to your credit.

For this reason, it is always best to pay off your credit amount sooner rather than later so that you incur as minimal interest as possible.

Pro’s Of Using A Credit Card To Deposit Online

There are several advantages to using a credit card when making an online deposit, these include:

1. Widely accepted – The use of a credit card when making an online casino deposit is one of the most widely accepted and available payment methods anywhere online.
2. Build credit history – each time you use your credit card and manage you credit effectively, you will build up a postivie credit score which will bode well for any future credit needs you may have
3. Deposit now, pay later – Using your credit card to deposit will allow you to deposit an amount now whilst being able to pay off that deposit amount in smaller increments over a longer period of time
4. Safe to use – If your card is lost or stolen and fraudelnet activity is used on it, you will not be liable for this. Additionally credit card payments require no personal information or bank details, which means you are safe when transacting online.
5. Convenient online payments – Credit cards are a super simple and effective way to make payments online, especially do to the fact that you cannot make cash payments online using a debit card.

Cons Of Using Credit Cards To Deposit Online

• Not always an available withdrawal method – Whilst most online casinos may provide credit card deposits, often credit cards are not available for withdrawals
• Interest rates and fee’s – There often aren’t any fees associated with depositing using your credit card, however you will be liable to pay interest on the amount you have lent from the bank if not paid back in full immediately. As mentioned though this is normally payable at around 5% each month depending on your bank

How To Make An Online Casino Deposit Using Credit Card?

Making your very first online casino deposit using your credit card couldn’t be easier. To help get you started we have compiled a very short and easy-to-follow step-by-step deposit tutorial.

Step 1:

Start your deposit process by heading to the cashier section of the casino you would like to deposit with, for this example, we are making a deposit at Springbok Casino.

Step 2:

Once you are in the cashier section you will be able to filter through all the deposit methods available to you.

Select the deposit method labeled “Credit & Debit cards”

Step 3:

The final step in the process is entering your credit card details. You will need to enter the number found on the front of the card, the expiry date of the card, as well as the 3-digit CVV number found on the back.

Finally, you will input the amount you would like to deposit, make note of the min and max deposit amounts when using a Credit Card, for Springbok these amounts are R150 and R20,000

NB: not all card issuers are accepted online, in the case of Springbok you can see that Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, and Discover are available.

Credit Card FAQ’s