MasterCard is one of the biggest credit card companies in the world
Mastercard is one of the two most popular credit card issuers in the United, surpassing both American Express and Discover while trailing only Visa. Given that it’s so common, it is also a favorite among sports gamblers to use when making deposits online. Pretty much every sportsbook accepts it, and there’s nothing like the security that comes with using one of the most effective, universal payment methods in the world.
So, if you’re wondering how and where you can use your Mastercard to optimize your online gambling experience, you’ve come to the right place.
Why should you bet with MasterCard?
We selected the best MasterCard betting site for the US and its northern neighbor Canada. We are also bringing you the best MasterCard bonuses, lowest fees, and fastest transactions.
Fees
No fees will be charged when using your Mastercard at Bovada on the first transaction. After that, there will be a 5.9 percent fee attached to every deposit.
Speed
Instant is the best word to describe Mastercard deposits at Bovada. Hence why they’re able to charge a 5.9 percent fee. Your money is available and ready to use right away.
No one likes deposit fees, which you will eventually incur when using Mastercard at Bovada. But this is ultimately a small price to pay for the speed at which transactions are processed, and the convenience and security incumbent of every deposit you make.
Read Bovada Review
Fees
You will incur a service fee of up to 6 percent when using your Mastercard at BetOnline.
Speed
How fast will your money be available at BetOnline after making deposits with your Mastercard? About as fast as you can input your information.
BetOnline does charge one of the higher processing fees, at 6 percent, but the incentives users enjoy is well worth it. Never mind the high deposit limits or inherently safe nature of your transactions. BetOnline’s deposit bonus includes a 100 percent match for first-timers, and they will match competitor promotions if you find a better one.
Read BetOnline Review
Fees
There will be no charges assessed to your Bookmaker account for making deposits with a Mastercard.
Speed
Most bettors want their money immediately available after making deposits. Bookmaker has you covered here when using Mastercard. Transactions are approved in moments whether you’re inputting information online or over the phone with a customer service representative.
Trying to escape credit card deposit fees? Look no further than Bookmaker. Regardless of how much or how little you’re putting into your account, there won’t be any additional charge. Low maximums on their credit card deposits are the only drawback.
Read Bookmaker Review
Fees
No fees will be charged from Bodog when making a deposit with your Mastercard. However, for gamblers who reside outside Canada, there may be a processing fee from the Mastercard company itself.
Speed
Bodog is yet another sportsbook that processes Mastercard transactions posthaste. This is one of the best parts about using such a popular issuer: Your money goes into your account as soon as you hit “OK.”
Mastercard transactions at Bodog hit just about every worthwhile note. The sportsbook won’t charge you a fee, you don’t have to deposit a ton of money, your money is available immediately and you’ll be eligible for all the pertinent deposit bonuses. If there’s one potential hangup, it’s the small transaction fee Mastercard will charge to users outside Canada.
Read Bodog Review
Fees
You won’t be charged any fees for making deposits with your Mastercard at Sports Interaction.
Speed
To say Sports Interaction processes mobile Mastercard deposits at breakneck speed would undersell just how fast they actually are. Your money will hit your account before you can finish saying “That was easy.)
Sports Interaction is a beacon of awesomeness when it comes to mobile deposits. Their page layout isn’t clunky, and it will save your information for later to expedite all future transactions. Combine this iterative experience with zero deposit fees and instant approval, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better mobile experience when paying with a credit card.
Read Sports Interaction Review
Fees
Users won’t have to pay a fee at SportsBetting.ag when making deposits with their Mastercard.
Speed
Mastercard transactions at SportsBetting.ag are incredibly swift. You can do from clicking “deposit” to placing your first wager in just a few minutes.
Holy bonus. SportsBetting.ag offers all the usual conveniences of completing transactions with your Mastercard while also presenting the opportunity to double your first deposit up to $1,000. This is what we call a win-win.
Read Sportsbetting Review
Transactions fees can be a real pain when making deposits at your online sportsbook. If the website isn’t charging one, then your credit card company might be. In some instances, it’s both.
Mastercard is not immune to this extra expense. You’ll withstand transaction fees when using sportsbooks like Bovada and BetOnline, and Mastercard themselves has a surcharge for all foreign purchases.
The good news? This processing fee is the lowest in class, checking in at just 1 percent, no matter how much you’re spending in a single transaction. This is right in line with what Visa charges and is even better than the foreign transaction fees associated with certain purchases on American Express and Discover cards.
Ready for some better news? Not all Mastercards hit you with a foreign transaction fee. They have a bunch of different cards you can apply for depending on your needs and whether you’re willing to pay an annual membership. Many of the cards above the baseline tier will allow you to make deposits at international sportsbooks without tacking on any surcharge.
Setting up shop with Mastercard is a walk in the park. You can complete a credit card application in minutes on your website, and you’ll immediately find out whether you are approved and how much of a credit line you enjoy. Everything else is self-explanatory from there, but let’s get a little deeper into it.
Before you get to making deposits and actually betting, you need to first find sites that accept Mastercard. This is beyond easy. We’re about to provide a short list of our favorite sportsbooks that accept Mastercard, but searching yourself takes little effort. Simply head over to the deposit methods page of any sportsbook, and you should see a list of all the credit cards they take.
Chances are better than great Mastercard will be on just about every site you sift through. They are, again, that common. You’ll only run into issues with sportsbooks that don’t accept credit cards, period. And by the way: There are very few of those.
Here are our top-five sites that accept Mastercard as a valid deposit method:
Okay, so you’ve now found a site that takes Mastercard deposits. What’s next? The actual deposit.
Head over to the deposit section, select the credit card option and then input all the requisite information. After that, it should take only a few seconds for your sportsbook to approve your funds, at which time you’ll immediately be ready to start placing wagers.
For even faster deposit experiences, try saving your Mastercard information in your sportsbook. By doing this, you’ll be able to complete transactions later on by entering the expiration date and nothing else, simplifying your experience even further.
Figuring out the right gambling strategy with Mastercard deposits isn’t rocket science. It’s more like common sense.
Bonuses are your friend, and you should look to exploit them based on how much using Mastercard might cost. Look at what type of Mastercard you have and whether it has a 1 percent foreign transaction fee. Also see whether your sportsbook charges a fee for processing credit card payments. Add those numbers together, and you have the operating costs of using your Mastercard.
The goal should be to make that money back through a deposit-matching bonus. If you wind up being free from all fees, you don’t have to put as much thought into them. If you are, however, subjected to surcharges from your sportsbook, Mastercard or both, you should be prioritizing the websites—such as SportsBetting.ag—that give you back a greater amount of your first deposit.
Making deposits at sportsbooks using your Mastercard is inherently safe. Gambling sites have beefed up their online security by epic proportions over the years, and the Mastercard company itself offers a wide variety of tools to help prevent you from becoming the victim of fraud.
Determining how many security measures you need is really up to you. Mastercard will email or call you if they see a suspicious charge pop up on your account. But if you’re looking for more consistent contact and confirmation, you’ll need to customize your experience. Fortunately, Mastercard gives you the option to do this. You can set alerts for when there’s a transaction over a certain amount, when your outstanding balance surpasses a certain total and every foreign purchase if you please.
Accepted Almost Everywhere
You’ll have to travel great lengths to find sportsbooks that don’t accept Mastercard. Along with Visa, it is the closest thing online gambling sites have to a universal form of payment. The only time you’ll run into issues is when you stumble across sportsbooks that don’t accept credit cards at all or might only take Visa.
Be Prepared to Have an Alternate Withdrawal Method
Online sportsbooks are not in the habit of sending funds back onto your credit card. It can be done in certain instances—American Express is actually accommodating—but most online bookies won’t even give you the option.
Those using their Mastercard to make sportsbook deposits will want to ensure they’re prepared with another payment method for withdrawals. This isn’t a downside per se, but if the whole point of you using your Mastercard is that you don’t want to input your bank account information, you’ll need to be comfortable waiting on courier checks, which can take a while, or sign up for a third-party e-wallet.
Your Mastercard Dictates Your Betting Experience
Mastercard offers a bunch of different card options. Whichever one you choose will have a big say in your overall betting experience. Are you subject to foreign transaction fees? Do you have a high credit limit? A low credit limit? Can you make multiple deposits in one day? What type of cash-back rewards do you qualify for? The answers to these questions will vary depending on which Mastercard type you apply for. Keep that in mind if you’re planning to use it as your primary deposit method at online sportsbooks.
